To Change a Life
by werewolf26
Summary: RenOC no slash. Ren meets someone very unexpected, someone that might make a difference. This story happens during the manga so it´s AU. LAST CHAPTER!
1. Chapter 1: scream

hello people!! thanks for giving my story a chance D

WARNING: this is AU cause it occurs during the manga. so for those who haven´t read it i recommend you read it first, cause it´s very different from the anime in later chapters.

by the way, if you want to read the manga, you can go to stoptazmo. com and register, it´s not complete but it updates every week.

the story starts right after ren kicks ryu and his gang out of his house in japan.

enjoy!

**To Change a Life**

** Chapter 1: Scream**

REN´S POV

What did that idiot think he was doing? With that weird Elvis hairstyle he dared to step into my house?? And with his whole gang?? What a weakling, didn´t deserve my merci, that one. But I didn´t want stains of blood all over the place, I had to let him live. He better not come back or he may not be that lucky.

Anyway, I have more important matters to attend. Training. To defeat that boy. Yoh Azakura. I´ll murder that miserable rat next time I lay my eyes on him. He completely humiliated me! And just by sheer luck! There´s no doubt that I can defeat him, he´s no more than a bothersome cockroach. Nothing to worry about.

So…training it is. Music in place, milk in place, towel in place, and most important no distractions. Perfect. Five hours will do for this afternoon.

………………………………..

11pm…

Shit! I´m out of milk again! Why does it never last me more than a day? I mean, it´s not like I drink that much. Oh well, maybe Jun is drinking it too.

On the way back home after getting the milk…

It´s a nice night, full of stars, perfect for a long walk. Pity i´m in the middle of this stupid city, where I can´t properly enjoy the view. Japan is not even half as beautiful as China. Too many buildings, contaminating what little nature is left. No pure air, too much noise. Ugh! People in here are specially disgusting, even more than back in my country, which is saying a lot. Undeserving of the land they are given. I´ll kill them all, one by one, rid this world of every human being. This way, they cannot contaminate the world with all their hatred and evilness and-

(A sudden and piercing scream comes from behind)

What the fuck was that?!


	2. Chapter 2: rescuer

**yes i know ren´s very very moody, but im writing this as though its the start of the story, you know, where he´s all mean. So im trying to make him stay in character. Of course we all know that´s going to change later (wink)**

**  
**

**Chapter 2: Rescuer **

MARIANA´S POV

My mind is literally blank. I can´t think, I can´t breath, just stare with wide eyes at the man in front of me. I never thought that I would have to see him again, but here he is and I´m totally alone, in the middle of a city I´ve just yesterday arrived. He has a mad gleam in his eyes and a wide manical grin, like someone who knows he´s in for a treat.

To make things worse, Celandine, my spirit, is nowhere to be seen, because I told her to wait for me in the hotel while I went for a walk. Yeah, some walk this one is!

He starts walking slowly towards me. I hurriedly back away. He comes steadily closer. I take another step back and trip, falling right on my ass. It hurts but I take no notice as he continues to approach. I´m completely terrified.

"What? Are you not glad to see me? It´s been a long time…" he whispers maliciously and smirks. My heart is beating very fast and my whole body goes numb. I feel like vomiting.

"Answer me you bitch!!!" he yells and aims a punch at my face. I cover myself with my arms and he ends up hitting the left one. It hurts like hell. I emit a small sob and start crying. I can´t defend myself in this fright. I´m paralyzed.

I try to stand up but he pushes me hard back to the ground. He grabs me by my hair and pulls my face right in front of his. He´s so close that I can smell his horrible breathing.

"You´re not going anywhere" he says in a low voice, giving me a warning look. And then I scream as loud as I can, hoping someone´s nearby. He throws me again to the floor with all his strength, laughing. I see him preparing himself to give me another hard blow before closing my eyes, expecting the impending pain.

But it never comes and I hear a thump and a yell of pain. I open my eyes to see a boy standing in front of me, his back facing me. I look down and see my offender lying on the ground, clutching his stomach and whimpering pathetically. It must have been some blow cause he looks close to crying.

I hear the boy say something, but in my state it´s impossible for me to make out the words. I already feel my mind close to slipping into unconsciousness, my eyes seeing everything in a sort of blur, but I fight to stay awake.

Suddenly, the boy raises a dangerous looking weapon and attacks. The last thing I see is my rescuer slicing the block in half, blood everywhere and the kid turning around to face me. After that, all I see is black.


	3. Chapter 3: home

**Chapter 3: Home  
**

REN´S POV

Good riddance! Those kind of people deserve to burn in hell.

I quickly wipe the blood out of my face and turn to look at the girl to find out she´s passed out. She looks very pale and it´s improbable that she´ll wake up any time soon. It´s already past midnight and this looks like a dangerous street. So I lift her in my arms and take her home.

Just my luck! I´m going for a tranquil walk and I end up having to aid some stupid kid! I sigh tiredly and look up at the sky. This is turning out to be a very long night.

As soon as I get home I find Bason anxiously waiting for me.

"Master!! Where were you? I thought you were just going to get milk" he says breathlessly, then looks at the girl and asks "Who is she?"

"Shut up Bason" I murmur, annoyed with all the racket he´s making.

I go to the living room and let her down on the sofa. Now I give myself the time to actually look at what I´ve brought. She looks a bit younger than me and she´s definitely shorter. Long brown hair with a fringe that sticks into her eyes. Her nose and cheeks are a bit freckled. She´s wearing jeans that ends just under her knees and a black crop top.

She turns from side to side restlessly, probably having a nightmare.

"Ren, are you back from the market? What took you so long?" Jun enters to the room and stops dead when she sees a girl on the couch. "What´s going on? Who is she?"

"Someone" I respond curtly.

Jun looks at her curiously. "You didn´t kidnap her, did you?"

"Of course not!" I shout at her, again getting annoyed. What´s with everyone today, being so bothersome? "I don´t know who she is, she´s fainted".

"So you decided to bring her here?" I can see the start of a grin in her face, which is really pissing me off.

"Yes!" I snap. "Now, if you don´t mind, I´m going to sleep".

"You´re leaving the girl here?" Now she´s not even bothering to hide the grin.

"Yes! Any objections to that?" I ask aggressively.

"None at all. I´m sorry, don´t get angry, I was just curious. This is very unusual" she says soothingly. And I can already feel myself calming down.

"Well, it has been a very unusual night for me" I turn to go to my room.

"Good night Ren" I hear Jun as I´m walking up the stairs.

I get to my room and through myself in the bed with a long sigh. Staring at the ceiling I repeat in my head the events of the last two hours. I really have no idea why I brought that girl here, it´s not like me at all to do something like that. But I can say I´m sure I felt something when I saw that man hit her. Something I´ve never felt before. I don´t know what it is, but I will find out.


	4. Chapter 4: weird

**Chapter 4: Weird  
**

MARIANA´S POV

Fuck fuck fuck fuck! My head feels like it´s about to explode. I let out a loud groan and slowly open my eyes. No no no, too much light. I blink couple of times, adjusting my eyes. When I can actually see, I see a women I´ve never seen before looking right back at me. She has green hair and a gentle smile.

"Are you ok?" she asks softly. She has a strange accent, Chinese maybe.

I incorporate and look around. I´ve never been here before. I glance down and see I´m laying on a sofa. After taking in all the place, I look back at the woman.

"Where am I?" I ask, surely with a lost look on my face.

"You´re at my house. I´m Jun Tao. My brother Ren brought you here. Do you remember anything?" She speaks gently.

"Oh, yes. Is he the one with the yellow jacket?" I slowly start remembering.

Jun smiles broadly "Yes, that´s him allright. How are you feeling? Do you need anything?" she questions concernedly.

"Actually, my head kind of hurts. Do you have any aspirins?"

"Yes, I´ll be right back" And off she goes.

I must have passed out. The last thing I recall is that boy Ren killing Jack, he certainly looked strong and creepy. But he did one hell of a favour to me, he saved me and brought me here safely, he can´t be a bad guy.

With some effort, I get up to explore the place. It sure is big and nice, they obviously have a lot of money. I see there´s a lot of furniture with the ying yang and Chinese symbols.

"Here, I brought you some tea to take the pill" Jun comes through the door.

"Thanks" I drink the pill. "Are you two Chinese?"

"Yes, we came here for vacations. A nice place, Japan, very modern" She says sweetly.

"Erm…" I avert my eyes awkwardly. "Where´s your brother? I want to thank him for bringing me here"

"Probably training" she answers simply, "He does that all the time, you know. He likes to be in good shape".

"Oh, right. Could you take me to him please?"

"Sure thing, come this way" She stands up and takes me to a corridor which leads to several doors. We stop in front of one. "This is the gym, he´s inside. Good luck" And off she goes again.

I open the door to discover a large room full of different gym machines. Some loud rock is on. I find him doing weight lifting, sweat coming down his face and a look of concentration in his golden eyes. He gives me a quick look and goes back to his business. Not wanting to disturb him, I go to seat on a bench and watch him exercise. He doesn´t look bad at all, very nice fit body, I don´t mind having to wait at all.

(Time passes)

But three hours go by and he´s still lifting the fucking thing! Doesn´t he get tired? I´m getting hungry.

"Er…excuse me" I speak up. He doesn´t look up. "Aren´t you hungry? I could bring you something…"

No response. I go quiet again and wait. Just when I´m about to leave, he stops. He gets a towel and cleans himself a bit. He reaches out for a bottle of milk and drinks it. Once he´s finished, he turns to me.

"What do you want?" He looks at me intently.

I gulp. "S-sorry to bother you. I just wanted to thank you very much for what you did yesterday. You have no idea how much it meant for me" I say with as much honesty as I can transmit.

He stares at me for a while, then turns away. "Hmph. It was nothing, he was no more than a weakling" He walks out of the gym and I follow him. "I´m going to take a bath. Don´t follow me" He says, not facing me.

"Ok. Have a good shower" I say, not knowing what to do.

That´s some weird kid, but I kind of like him.


	5. Chapter 5: promise

**Chapter 5: Promise  
**

REN´S POV

Ok, if I go to take a bath, hopefully she´ll be gone when I´m finished. What did she think she was doing coming to interrupt my training?! People can be so annoying.

I take off my clothes and get into the shower, finally relaxing.

(After the shower)

I put on some black pants and a white shirt. I look up at the clock in my bedroom. Time for lunch.

I walk down the stairs, I´m about to open the door to get to the kitchen, when I hear the girl talking. What is that hideous being still doing in my house?!!! If she´s fine she should leave!

"I´m sorry, I don´t think I introduced myself, my name is Mariana Landon" I hear her say.

"Oh, Mariana, that´s such a beautiful name" Jun responds. This is just perfect, she´s making friends with my sister! Now she´ll never leave the house! "Are you American? You don´t look like it"

"No, I´m originally German, but I have residence in Canada right now. I just came here for studies. I´m living alone, my grandfather didn´t want to come, he´s the one paying my stay here" Mariana says.

"That´s wonderful!" Jun actually sounds sincere. This is a disaster. Now I wont get a moment of peace. "So…how did you like Ren?" My train of thought is cut at this.

I hear a snort, presumably from Mariana "Your brother doesn´t seem very sociable. I think he finds me annoying" Well, at least she´s perceptive.

Jun laughs "Don´t worry, he finds everyone annoying. But what did he say?" God, what´s up with Jun asking all those weird questions?

"First he ignored me cause he was training. Then I manage to give him the thanks and he turns away!" Mariana complains, but she sounds more amused than offended. "He´s strange, but then, I don´t usually tend to like normalcy" She says matter of factly.

What the hell is that supposed to mean? I wish they would stop talking about me!

"Glad to hear so" Jun replies "This is not a very normal family, after all"

"I can tell" Again that amused tone. This is making me sick.

Resigned I enter the kitchen. Both of them go quiet and stare at me. "What?" I snap.

Mariana smiles at me "Nothing like a good shower to cheer up, huh?"

I glare at her. Jun laughs "Come on Ren, don´t be so grumpy. I´ll make lunch. Care for sandwiches?" she says pleasantly.

"Sandwiches! Yay!" Mariana cries as I sit on the table.

I frown "Are you always this noisy?"

She beams "Yes, specially when I´m enjoying myself, like now"

"What´s so joyful about now?" I question.

"Meeting new people is always joyful. You two are a lot of fun so I´m getting all merry" She looks like she actually means what she´s saying. She really looks happy to be here.

"You are odd" I say bluntly.

"Maybe, but not half as odd as you are" She replies earnestly.

"And I can´t understand how you are so simple minded as to get so happy about meeting new people. Don´t you know people? Do you really believe there´s someone out there worthy enough to meet? From where I´m standing, all humans are trash. They all contaminate a world they don´t deserve. They cheat, lye, betray. This world is full of hatred, each bit of this hatred brought upon by everyone" I say darkly, hoping she´ll get a gleam of what she´s obviously missing.

She falls quiet and gazes at me pensively. And her gaze is deep, her brown eyes feel like they´re looking right at my soul.

"That´s a very negative view of the world, you now" she finally retorts, looking quite serious now. "It´s not healthy for anyone to be so pessimist. However, believe it or not, I understand what you are talking about. But it´s important for you to know that not everyone is evil, not all people have mean intentions and I know loads of humans that try their best to be as good as possible for human kind" She leans towards me and says very low "I _know_ what you mean. I once believed the same. But you have to trust me on this one, there´s hope for the world we´re living in. And if you in fact want to change all bad and mean things in the world, you have to start for changing yourself. You have to get rid of all the hatred _you_ are carrying"

I stare at her a little amazed at this speech. After a moment though, I answer:

"I disagree. I think all humans tend, above everything else, to evilness and selfishness. And in my 14 years of life, I haven´t seen anything that proves me wrong" I declare.

Again she gazes at me with those intent eyes, a strange look of determination on her face, before she says "If that is so, I promise you with all my heart that I´ll try my best to prove you wrong"

And I´m dumbstruck. Before I have a chance to reply Jun comes back with the sandwiches. And Mariana goes back to being her cheerful self.

**SKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSK**

This is where i wanted to get!! please people tell me what you think


	6. Chapter 6: sympathy

**Chapter 6: Sympathy  
**

MARIANA´S POV

I´m watching the Seinfield show with Jun when Ren enters the room.

"You still here?" he grunts.

"You training again?" I retort when I see he´s all sweaty again. He glowers. "No, seriously, what´s with all the training?"

"None of your business" He´s about to leave when the spirit of what looks to be a warrior comes into the room.

"Master? Don´t you think you should rest for the day?" The spirit says worriedly to Ren, who gestures for him to leave.

As Ren is reaching the door I speak up "Wait!" He turns to me "You´re a shaman?" I ask in wonder.

He looks at me quizzically "Yes I am. Are you as well?" Now he looks very interested.

"Hell yeah!" I say laughing "Vacations my ass. You´re here for the tournament right? Just like I´m not studying anything at all. This is so hilarious"

Jun glances at me, obviously interested in the matter as well.

But Ren frowns "Oh, yeah? If you are a shaman and you´re going to participate in the shaman fight, the how come you were so helpless last night? Where was your spirit?"

My smile fades "Waiting for me at home, just like yours"

"That was very stupid of you. Walking alone at night with no protection"

"Ren!" Jun starts. "Don´t-"

"No, Jun" I smile up at him "He´s right. I should have taken Celandine with me"

"Celandine? Is that your spirit?" Ren comes to sit down at the sofa, evidently attracted by the subject.

"Yes. She was an expert in Tae Kwon Do, you know, the martial art. And she was also a singer. She only just died a decade ago" I say conversationally.

"And what kind of weapon do you use?" He asks eagerly. Behind him I can see Jun grinning and winking at me. I beam at him.

"Oh, I have this incredibly cool weapon that Celandine designed and created herself" I tell him enthusiastically. "It consists in two sort of boomerangs, both with a handle on the inner side and sharp on the outer side. She used to handle them expertly, and now she´s teaching me everything!"

"That sounds ok" He smirks at me. "But the million dollar question is, have you learned to use the oversoul yet?"

"You bet!" I shoot back with a smirk of my own. "I´m becoming quite the expert with it"

"I wont believe it until I see it" He declares while standing up. "But I have to admit I´m intrigued. Train hard enough and maybe you´ll become a decent challenge to my power" And with that he leaves the room.

"Wow!" Jun exclaims after she´s sure Ren wont hear "you actually managed to have a sort of nice conversation with him. I can assure you that´s a new one. How did you do that?"

"I have my ways" I say jokingly. "Well, I really ought to get going now. Celandine must be worried sick. Good night!" I wave leaving.

"Bye-bye! Come to visit soon!" She shouts when I´m out of the room.

Sure thing I´ll be coming back! Ren Tao. I definitely like that guy.

As I make my way out of the house and into the road I start thinking about that conversation we had in the kitchen. _This world is full of hatred, each bit of this hatred brought upon by everyone_, he said. Of course, I know that sentiment all right. The moment you believe everyone is just a piece of shit, including yourself. And feeling there´s no real good in the world, just a twisted pretence of it. I´ve been there. But I also know _why_ I´ve been there. What I have to find out is why _he´s_ there, submerged in hopelessness. What on earth has happened to him to be so full of bitterness and hatred. When we had that talk I felt my insides twisting and an inexplicable sadness filled my body. But, in fact, I know exactly what I´m feeling: sympathy.

After living at Jack Nadine´s place for two years how can I not be sympathetic. After you´ve been in hell you can instantly recognize those who are sunk in it.

I suddenly realize that I´m already home. I enter quickly, dying to talk to someone.

"Celin" I call my spirit.

"Mariana!!" She screams. "Where have you been?! I was so worried!"

"I´m so so so so sorry! But you don´t know how much I have to tell you! I met the person who´s going to be my best friend in the tournament!"

**SKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSK**

So?? what do you think? Ren´s already feeling something i can tell you that. Next chapter comes tomorrow


	7. Chapter 7: sad

**Im honestly trying my best to make the chapters longer, so apreciate it! This chap as the title says is kind of sad so like the boy scouts, be prepared. **

**  
Chapter 7: Sad  
**

REN´S POV

She´s left. The house is quiet again. Thank God!

For some reason, I found this day very exhausting and fall asleep as soon as I lay my head on the pillow.

(Next day)

I open my eyes and see a glint of day light entering through the window. An unusually peaceful feeling comes into me and I´m relaxed as I´ve never been in my life. I had some sleep last night, nothing disturbed me.

Calmly, I get up in a slow motion and stretch. Looking at the watch hanging on the wall, I´m amazed to find out that I´ve slept ´til noon. This is so strange, I´m usually up at 9 am, and that late is when I decide to sleep in. This is just ridiculous!

After getting dressed, I go downstairs and go to the kitchen.

"Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up" Jun teases me. "Did you actually died and came back to life? It certainly seemed so" She smiles fondly at me, therefore I just ignore her.

She serves boiled eggs for both of us and we start eating quietly, which suits me perfectly. Unfortunately, it doesn´t lasts long.

"So, nice girl Mariana, right?" She says conversationally, but I now she´s truly dying to know my opinion. This is not a good start for the day.

"I can admit I´ve met worse, if that´s what you want to hear" I speak to my plate.

"Oh, come on! It´s obvious you liked her" Seeing the look in my face, she wisely chooses to rephrase. "Ok, maybe not like her, but it was evident she doesn´t bother you as much as the rest of the human kind" She insists.

"What ever made you think that?" I question, stubbornly keeping my gaze to the plate. This is a conversation I would really like to avoid.

"Last night, when you two conversed in the living room, you seemed to get along quite wall" She looks intently at me, probably hoping to see some kind of reaction. She should know better than that.

"Oh, yes. Very pleasant chat right?" I retort still concentrating on my meal. For some reason I can´t look at her eyes. "I was just gathering information of a future enemy of the shaman fight, which the stupid girl gave eagerly away. Now I´ll encounter no surprises" I say impassively.

Jun doesn´t say anything for a while, just keeps staring at me while I continue to eat my meal. Abruptly, she blurts out "You know, if you are going to lie to me, at least do it to my face, looking at my eyes".

I look up at her. "I don´t like her. I think she´s noisy, weak and stupid. Happy now? If want to be pals with her, go ahead. But don´t even try dragging me as well"

Jun sighs heavily and exits the room. And everything is quiet again. And it annoys me to no end that I have to _convince_ myself that this is how I like it to be.

Once I finish breakfast, I go to the gym room to do some resistance training. I opt for listening to Metallica (A N: sooo cool!) and put it as loud as it can get.

While exercising, I meditate over what I talked with Jun. Was I lying? I frankly can´t tell anymore. I´m overly confused ´cause I don´t manage to get that girl. She said I have a negative view of the world, but I rather think is a realistic one. She also claimed to have believed all humanity was shit in the past, but now she believes in the good of people and has hope. What did she mean saying that she´s been _there_? Where _is_ there anyway? I think she meant she has had rough times or some bullshit of the sort. And she told me to get rid of my hatred. That´s impossible. It´s all I am. All I know. Hate.

But what most intrigued me of that discussion was the end. _I promise you with all my heart that I´ll try my best to prove you wrong_, she said. I must admit she left me speechless with that, I wasn´t expecting it at all. And she made me doubt. Doubt! As if I could be wrong, specially in something as clearly true as the evilness of human kind. But still, it did trigger something inside of me. Almost as if I wanted to believe it. But that´s just plain stupid! I know better than that! My whole life has taught me that hope leads you to ruin. Just as doubt does. Everything I´ve lived proves that there´s no good in people´s hearts, so I must be right!

Right now I´m so confused it´s disturbing me. Why did I even listen to that dim-witted girl? What can _she_ know about anything at all? How could she make me doubt?

I _know_ people are a waste of pure air, I musn´t forget it. And I´ll free the world of every single one of them when I become the Shaman King.

I ought not to listen to her. I can´t trust anyone but myself. Not her, nor my spirit, nor my parents, nor my uncle and not even my sister. All I can trust is me and my own power. My strength is my only aid.

Just then the stereo starts playing my favourite song, _Sad but true_:

_Hey, I´m your life, I´m the one who takes you there._

_Hey, I´m your life, I´m the one who cares._

_They, they betray, I´m your only true friend now._

_They, they´ll betray, I´m forever there._

_I´m your dream, make you real  
_

_I´m your eyes when you must steal  
_

_I´m your pain when you can´t feel  
_

_Sad but true._

_I´m your dream, mind astray  
_

_I´m your eyes while you´re away  
_

_I´m your pain while you repay  
_

_You know it´s sad but true._

Sad but true, that´s reality, that´s the world, that´s the human race, that´s what my beliefs are. No matter how sad it is, I have to accept it as the truth.

I finish training, take a bath and go to my balcony to watch the stars. After a while I see an enormous shooting star crossing the sky. Finally, the signal of the start of the tournament. And at that moment I remember what led me to want to be in the fight, the feelings that made me determined to be the Shaman King. So I resettle my mind, freeing it from all uncertainties and accept it once again. Life is sad but true.

**SKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSK**

That´s actually one of my favourite songs allthough it´s a bit depressing. It´s not complete cause i didn´t want to make it that long, i think i made the point with that. Tell me what you think please.


	8. Chapter 8: locking

**hello there, new chappie! I m sorry, it got a bit shorter than the last one. It s just too hard to update during the week. I promise long ones in the weekend!  
**

**Chapter 8: Locking**

MARIANA´S POV

Yay!! I passed the test and now I´m in the tournament! Karim was a damn tough target but I managed it. This really is a reason to celebrate and party.

So, I go to the market, buy some French fries, cokes, sandwiches and then straight to Ren´s place.

Unfortunately, when I get there, Ren is nowhere to be seen.

"Where´s Ren?" I ask disappointedly. "I wanted to have a mini party"

"Dunno. He went out a while ago" Jun answers absentmindedly. "What´s the party for anyway?" She eyes all the food looking amused.

"I´m in the tournament! They let me in!" I cry excitedly.

"Congratulations!" Jun beams at me. "Well, then that´s probably what Ren´s doing right now…"

"Yeah, let´s wait till he returns to start celebrating" I sit on the sofa next to her.

We watch a marathon of The Simpson for like two hours, until finally we hear the door opening and a very sloppy looking Ren enters the room.

"Hey, Ren! Mariana´s here!" Jun says loudly, grinning just too much.

"Hi Ren! You don´t know how cool I was today, I mean, I _sooo_ approved that test" I inform him elated.

Something doesn´t look right with him. He never looks up at me, just walks hurriedly outside the living room. We hear him go up the stairs and close a door with a bang, I presume it´s the one to his bedroom.

"What the hell was that?" I ask Jun worriedly.

"I have no idea, but it doesn´t look good" She looks preoccupied.

"You don´t think he failed to enter the Shaman Fight, do you?" Not actually believing that, just thinking loudly of any possibility.

"No way, he´s very strong, I´m sure he had no trouble with that"

"Maybe something happened to him on the way back here?" I suggest.

"It could have been anything" We stare at the door, lost in thought.

I hesitate about a minute before making up my mind. I leave the room, go upstairs and after a good while, find his room.

I knock softly. No answer. Two louder knocks. Still no answer. I try to open the door. Locked. Fuck!

"Ren? What´s up?" I hear nothing. I wrestle pointlessly with the door handle. "Come on Ren, I know you´re there"

What on earth could have happened? He looked just fine last week, and apparently also looked fine today, judging by Jun´s reaction. I wrestle a bit more.

"Please Ren, I really want to see you!" I plead. "Open the door, just let me in, you don´t have to talk"

Now I start pounding "I just want to see whether you´re ok or not! Just for a minute! At least tell me if you´re in the Tournament!" I shout, trying to make him acknowledge me.

I keep on pounding louder and louder But it´s no use, he´s not letting me in.

Suddenly, Bason comes out, startling me.

"Master made it into the tournament just fine" He says sounding kind of down. "Right now, he wishes to be left alone"

"Bason what´s happened? Why´s he locking himself up?" I ask desperately.

"I´m not entirely sure and I don´t think Master wishes me to say anything" He responds politely and goes downstairs, a depressed aura surrounding him. Evidently, Ren kicked him out of the room.

Shit! I kick the door very hard, wait for a reaction and get none. Frustrated, I follow Bason, with the same aura surrounding me as well.

"He´s locked himself in his dorm" I inform Jun, who I can tell notes a frustrated and gloomy edge in my voice.

"Don´t worry so much" She consoles me while I take the seat next to her again. "I´m sure he´ll come out tomorrow as good as new. He just has strange mood swings"

"You know as well as I do that this is no mere mood swing, something´s up"

"Mmm, yeah, you´re right" She soothingly puts her arm around me, comforting me. "Do you want to stay here for the night?"

"Can I?" I look uncertainly up at her.

"Of course, friends are always welcomed here" She smiles gently.

"Thanks" I smile back. "I want to see what happens tomorrow"

"We all do" She says knowingly.


	9. Chapter 9: undeserving

**Chapter 9: undeserving  
**

REN´S POV

I hear her climbing up the stairs and feel her presence outside my room. She knocks and knocks and knocks, over and over and over again. She calls insistently for me, actually sounding concerned. But I can´t face her right now.

So she keeps calling. I grip my head with both of my hands. Please make her go! I can´t stand it! Why did she have to appear today?! What shit does she think she´s doing coming here anyway?!

I feel my insides revolving. I don´t know what has gone wrong, but something about tonight was different. Different from all the other times. It´s never felt wrong before. Other times I just did it without a second thought… or so I´ve tried to talk myself into.

I throw myself heavily in my bed, still hearing Mariana outside. Eventually, Bason goes and shuts her up. She gives a final kick and I feel it almost like a punch to my chest. She leaves and I feel all empty again.

Whit the silence comes the memory, even stronger than before. I grip the sheets and shut my eyes, trying my best to shove all thought of the incident out of my head.

After an hour I desist all attempt to sleep. It´s past midnight and I don´t hear any tv sounds. It´s safe to leave the room. I can take a bath now there´s peace in this house.

I make my way quietly to the bathroom, not wanting to wake Jun up. Once there, I take off the clothes, blood stained in the front, which I still don´t know how I´ve managed to hide from the girls.

Inside the bath, I try to forget and relax. But there´s no case. I sigh heavily and lean back. No sleep for me tonight.

(Next day)

5 am I open the kitchen door, fully expecting the place to be empty. Jun never wakes up this early. But when I enter someone´s already there. It´s still dark so I can´t see the shape. I prepare to attack whoever is intruding in my house.

The person turns around.

"Don´t move!" I yell

"Ren?" A voice says. I freeze.

"…..Mariana?!" WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE STILL DOING HERE???!!! And damn it there´s nowhere to hide, she´s already seen me. I turn on the light and see she´s wearing a pyjama that belongs to Jun. So she let her sleep here. Great.

"Oh Ren you scared me" She says a bit breathlessly. "What has happened to you? You have some bags under your eyes" Once more that concerned tone. What does she care?

"I couldn´t sleep" I purposely avoid her eyes and get some milk out of the refrigerator.

"Why not?" Boy she´s insistent.

"Nothing that should concern you" I answer calmly.

She doesn´t take her eyes off me while I drink my milk. I go to the living room, lie down on the sofa and turn on the tv to watch the news. She follows me and stands in the doorway, still gazing at me.

"Something happened on your test with the priest, right?" She inquires serenely.

My heart starts beating very fast. No! She can´t know! She´s just guessing. No matter what she says, I´ll stare fixedly at the tv.

She comes closer. "What happened there? Bason told me you approved"

Feeling her hand in my shoulder, I get very agitated. Why doesn´t she leave me alone?

"Are you going to tell me?" She seats down next to me and squeezes my shoulder. And now it´s like the pulse of my whole body is beating, making me sweat.

Unable to utter a sound, I slowly shook my head. She reaches my hand with hers.

"Please, I _really_ want to know what´s bothering you so much" She speaks directly to my ear. I start trembling and close my eyes.

No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! Stop doing this! I don´t need nor deserve any compation! Just go away!

But I can´t move or speak to get myself out of that situation. I just stay there breathing deeply to try to calm myself down. I´m so pathetic!

Figuring smartly that I´m not going to talk, she sighs. "Oh Ren" She leans her head in my shoulder, still holding my hand. And it surprises me that I don´t feel like shoving her away.

**SKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSK**

**So? What do you think?**


	10. Chapter 10: questions

**Chapter 10: Questions  
**

MARIANA´S POV

July, my first match. It comes unexpectedly soon.

So now I ´m in front of these weirdoes, who call themselves the boss´ and carry electric guitars. Apparently, they are some music band and a dreadful one at that, judging from what I ´m hearing. One of them is supposed to be my opponent.

"Hey, little girl, go home with mummy, this place is for adults!" One of the guys says. He must be my adversary.

"Are you so anxious that you feel the need to bully me?" I smirk at him. He doesn ´t seem to like that. "Hi, Karim! How ´s it going?" I wave at him when I spot him on a tree.

"Good enough" He doesn ´t look like it though. "Everyone ready for the match?" He asks monotonously. What´s up with him today?

"Yeah!" That idiot shouts. I just nod.

"Ok then. This Shaman Fight starts now!"

It doesn´t take ten minutes for me to defeat him. "Oops, I win today. I wish you better luck next time" And with that I´m done. I ´ve won the first match.

(Two weeks later)

8 pm. I ´ve just left Ren ´s and I ´m going for some pizza to have at home. When I´m two blocks away I see two boys and a girl talking…and a spirit is in the conversation as well! Shamans!

"Hey!" I walk towards them and they turn to see who ´s calling. "You ´re shamans, right?"

One of the boys is tall and lazy looking, with headphones around his neck. The other is very short and looks a bit nerd. The girl is blond and doesn ´t seem to be very nice. They all look surprised at me.

"No, just me and the girl" He says pointing at the blond. "How did you know we were shamans?" He asks intrigued.

"I could see you talking to your spirit. I ´m a shaman as well" I smile and shake his hand. "I ´m Mariana. Nice to meet ya"

"Yo! Nice to meet you too. My name is Yoh Azakura" He grins. "And this is Manta" Points at the dwarfie kid. "And this is-"

"My name is Anna and I ´m the fiancé of the soon to be Shaman King" The girl interrupts bluntly, looking very serious.

I give her half a smirk and retort "Sorry, that wont be possible. See, I ´m not a lesbian" She glares at me, obviously not amused at the joke.

I back turn to Yoh. "So, Yoh, you ´re participating in the Tournam-"

"Yoh Azakura. Haha, what a stupid name" We look up. A guy with blue hair and a snowboard is at the top of the building near us. "I ´m HoroHoro, your opponent in the first fight"

"You ´re fighting now?" I question exitedly. "Oh, this is so much fun"

I go and sit in a corner to observe them comfortably. HoroHoro stares at me "Who are you"

"Just an observant" I grin cheekily.

"Riiight" He goes back to Yoh.

And they fight. After a very awesome battle, Yoh wins. HoroHoro looks sad at first, but smartly he takes it well later and we all go to eat something at Yoh and Anna ´s house.

"This is so much fun! I was really looking forward to make friends in the Tournament" I comment happily.

"Yeah, that ´s true. I haven ´t met much shamans since I got here" says HoroHoro. "And most of them look either nerdy or mean" He laughs.

"And you, Yoh? Have you met any shamans who are participating?" I ask him interested.

"Before all of you? Just the one" He answers. "And he was kind of evil"

"Really? That doesn ´t sound cool" I look at him wanting to fish for more information. "So? Who is this guy?"

"Ren Tao. He ´s chinise" Yoh says conversationally.

This information takes a while to reach my brain. I stare at him for a moment. "What?" I finally manage to get out. I ´ve been thinking so much about that boy that I ´m sure I ´ve heard wrong. "What was that again?"

"Ren Tao" Yoh responds clearly.

"But…I know him, I know the guy" I say confused. "He ´s not evil"

"Of course he is!" Manta jumps in. "First he almost killed a man in the street and then he tried to kill Yoh and steal Amidamaru of him!"

I freeze, not believing my ears. "Really?!" My eyes go round "Are you sure we ´re talking about the same person? Purple hair? Golden eyes? His spirit ´s name is Bason?" I ask desperately.

"Yes, that would be him" Yoh responds, now seeming very interested in the conversation.

"But…..how can that be?" I talk to myself loudly. "Just a month ago he saved me! A man was about to attack me and he saved me! I mean, yes, he killed him. But then he took me to his house so I would be all right" I can ´t make any sense out of this conversation.

"He _saved_ you?" Yoh eyes me with wide eyes. "Well, maybe he ´s not that bad. Maybe he was just having a bad day" Manta rolls his eyes behind him.

"I don ´t think so" HoroHoro suddenly comments. "I know who you are talking about. He ´s the boy who killed one of the ten priests. Karim told me. Chrom I think was his name"

"No" I whisper. Gradually, everything starts to make sense. He killed a man. That day. That was why he locked himself in his room. That is why Karim didn ´t look good. But it can ´t be. Why would Ren do something like that? Is he in truth evil? I don ´t know him that much, but I thought I knew enough to make such a judgement. I had concluded that, in spite of his temper and moodiness, he had a good heart. What should I do now?

"Mariana? Are you ok?" I look up and find that everyone ´s staring at me, waiting for my answer.

I take a deep breath. "I don ´t know. I don ´t understand what ´s going on. This is too complicated" No one comments on this. "But I have to find out. I have to go. Now. Excuse me" I stand up, walk briskly to the door and leave without looking back.

First I walk. Then hurry a bit. Then break into a full speed run. The wind hits my face and I go even faster. Without hesitation I keep on rushing.

I know who has the answers to all my questions. The only one who can tell me the truth.

When I get to the location, I dash inside and to the source.

"We need to talk Jun"

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**I´ve already started with the next chap, how cool is that?**


	11. Chapter 11: change

**Chapter 11: Change**

REN´S POV

986, 987, 988, 989, 990-

Someone enters the gym, interrupting my weights train. I glance over the door and see Mariana. Again here. She looks serious. She goes over the bench, seats down and patiently waits for me to finish.

So I continue. 997, 998, 999, 1000.

Drinking some milk, I look at her way and can tell she wants to talk. I think I know what this is about. "I´ll go take a bath, if you don ´t mind" I say sarcastically.

An extremely prolonged bath and an hour worth of aimless circling in my dorm later, I step outside. She ´s waiting for me, leaning against the door.

"What do you want?" I shoot aggressively.

"Could we go for a walk?" She requests passively.

"A walk? With _you_?" I ask dismissively, although the idea does not sound unappealing. "Why would I want to do that?"

"Come on, we can take some milk and cookies" She insists. "Please?"

I sigh exaggeratedly "Ok. But a quick one" She nods, still in that serene way.

So we walk. We start off silently, just watching the way, almost gliding. This is not so bad, sort of relaxing.

"Let ´s go there" She points at the river. She leads the way and I follow. She stops close to the edge, flings herself on the grass and pats at her side, inviting me to do the same. I sit down slowly next to her and lean back. We stay like that for a while. Hearing the wind, the birds, the river, the silence, a peaceful feeling invades me. A strange mood comes into me, almost enjoyable and I close my eyes, finally relaxing.

About half an hour later, I hear Mariana moving and suddenly feel a hand in my arm. Tensing up, I open my eyes to find her face directly above from mine, her eyes looking into mine. Her hair is tied in a pony tail, which falls over her shoulder. She looks concernedly at me.

"Ren" She mutters softly "I know what happened. I know about Chrom"

I turn my head to the side, close my eyes again and breath deeply, trying to stay calm. "Yeah, I thought you did. It ´s true. You can leave if you want" For some reason it pains me to say this, I can ´t bear to watch her leave.

"No" I look at her. She ´s a determined expression on her face. "I talked to Jun. She told me about you and your family?"

I tense up again. "So what?" I say coldly. "What ´s that got to do with anything?"

"It ´s different. Even though I still consider it a horrible thing to do, to kill an innocent man, it´s not the same thing as if you would have been from a normal family. They don ´t sound like very nice people" She explains.

"What the fuck do you mean with that?!" I snarl at her. "You ´re telling me that you pity me or something?! I don ´t need you to come and feel sorry for me! You have no idea who you ´re talking to, do you? I ´m not some poor guy, victim of a nasty system in the society. I killed the guy ´cause I felt like it! There ´s no excuse for that!" I end up shouting at her. Saying all this causes an unexplainable ache in my chest and I feel awful.

I stand up in a rush and am about to leave, but Mariana grips my hand with hers and doesn't let me. "Wait! It ´s not like that, Ren!" She tries to pull me back down.

With a hard tug, I free myself of her. "NO! GET AWAY FROM ME YOU STUPID GIRL! Don ´t you understand? It ´s dangerous for you to be around me! I ´m not good for you to be around. You ´re an innocent and nice girl, while I ´m no more than a murderer!" I bellow at the top of my voice. "What are you trying to do anyway? Change me? Comfort me? If that ´s your plan, think twice. I ´m sullied, nothing fixable. You could get hurt in this"

I try to walk away once more, but now she goes for my legs and tackles me down. She climbs on top of me.

"Listen! I ´m not justifying your actions. I ´m not making up excuses for you. You did something that might be unforgivable. I don ´t know, I ´m not god" She attempts to reason, breathing heavily from the exertion. "But do not say you are sullied! You have a lot to give! And instead of thinking yourself as trash and a sinner, why don ´t you think of correcting your ways for a change? You can ´t undo what you have done, but you can make a difference in the future!"

"Get off of me!!!!" I push her away a bit but not really trying. "You don ´t understand anything!"

"No! I ´m not going anywhere! Did you think I was just kidding when I promised I would prove your views wrong? Or that I was saying that out of compromise for helping me?" She yells in my face, tears falling down her face. "Well, you were wrong. I ´m here to stay, I ´m not leaving you any time soon. And not just for your sake, trust me"

She pauses for a long time. We are both breathing hard, making an effort to calm down. "Look" She starts again "There is always hope. You have to believe in yourself. Don ´t you see? If you would be a lost case this conversation wouldn't be affecting you so much, you wouldn't have been so disturb after killing Chrom, you would never had come here with me or saved my life the day we met and taken me to your own home to make sure I was alright. You think a person who is completely mean would do things like that?" She pauses once more with a pant. "Well, let me give you some news, darl. _I ´ve_ met some damn evil people in my life, like the real kind of shit that resides in this world and I can assure you, you ´re not one of them. This people I ´m talking about never felt even a fraction of remorse, a feeling which, right now, you are showing in enormous quantities. You are calling yourself a murderer, saying you ´re not good and that you ´re sullied. You obviously regret your actions. And even though that doesn't fix anything, it ´s definitely a good start for making a change!" She finishes her speech.

She slowly disentangles herself from me. I don't move. She stares at me, obviously waiting for a reaction. I have none. I feel both numb and overwhelmed at the same time.

She speaks yet again "The most important matter is…..do you want to change?"

I think it over for a moment. "Yes" I hate the way my voice shakes. However, I evade eye contact. Even though I ´m being truthful, I ´m not sure I can change. As the saying tells, old habits die hard. My habits are to hate and be unpleasant.

"Ok then" She says soothingly, a hand reaching my face and touching it gently. "If you have the will to change, then I will help you in anything I can. I swear I ´ll be there for you in every step"

She leans down and hugs me. And once again, I don't feel like pushing her away. Together, we watch the sunset in peace.

**SKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSK**

**Fast update huh? Dont forget to review please, it makes me write faster!**


	12. Chapter 12: singing

**Ok this is a very light chapter soooo**

**enjoy! **

**Chapter 12: Singing**

MARIANA´S POV

8 pm, sitting in the park. Ren ´s waiting for his first opponent to show up and of course I am here to cheer for him. He ´s wearing his classic yellow jacket, even though it ´s the middle of the summer, with the tie and the black shorts. While I ´m wearing some short jeans and a loose red sleeveless shirt.

"Only a minute left and this jerk hasn't shown up yet!" He complains. "No real dedication for the tournament. Surely a pathetic looser"

I nod in agreement, smiling at him. He looks better now, not depressed at least. I reckon he ´s taking my words to heart. Tonight will be the proof of his intentions.

"Ren Tao!" An unknown voice comes from the left. We both look at that direction and see a hippie that looks like he ´s in his early 50s. "I ´m your challenger tonight" He gets slowly to the park.

Ren eyes him indifferently and comments "So it seems" He gets into battle stance, taking out his Kwan Dao.

"Let me introduce myself first, I am Fontane Moreau, I came from France" That bizarre person comments lightly. The spirit of a rat appears next to him. "This is my spirit Boggi. He ca-"

"Enough!" Thankfully Ren interrupts his dull rant "This is meaningless information in which I am not interested. The fight starts now"

"Ok then" Fontane produces an old sabre "Bring it on"

Without hesitation, Ren takes the initiative and attacks him. Fontane oversouls and blocks the attack. Smirking, Ren tries a lateral assault, but Fontane quickly moves to block again.

"Fast, that ´s good" Ren remarks, still smirking. He ´s visibly enjoying himself a tad too much. I resist the urge to laugh out loud.

Abruptly, Fontane aims a hit to Ren ´s head, which he easily dodges. "But not nearly fast enough for me" He mutters, hitting Fontane ´s side whilst he has his guard down, sending the French flying to the edge of the park.

"Nice one!" I applaud him. Ren glances quickly at me, before returning his focus on the fight.

Moreau gets up groaning "How did you do that?"

"Easy answer, I ´m better than you" Ren sneers "This is over" He jumps rapidly over his adversary and goes down to attack from the air. In one swift move, Fontane is on the ground with Ren ´s Kwan Dao next to his neck.

The French is sweating a lot "Why didn't you finish me?" He pants.

Ren lowers his weapon "You already lost your oversoul. I win" He turns around gracefully and walks over to where I ´m seating in the floor.

"Wow! That was fast! Congratulations!" I beam at him.

"It was nothing" He offers me his hand, which I take without even thinking, and helps me get up. "Lets get out of here"

We make our way to his place contentedly and not just because of Ren ´s victory. We both now that the old Ren would have killed Fontane with no uncertainty. This is a matter of celebration.

(Ren ´s house)

"Ren!" Jun runs to him when we get inside. "How was your fight?"

"Easy" He says offhandedly going for the refrigerator to get milk. She looks at me and smiles. I smile back.

"Oh I ´m so glad!" She goes on happily "We should celebrate"

"Yeah!" I agree instantly.

"Celebrate?" Ren raises one eyebrow "For winning against that weakling? As if! He was no challenge at all"

I grin madly at his bragging "I know that. It´s just an excuse to go and party"

"Then go. You don ´t need me for that" He gives me his back and goes for the door.

"No!" He stops to look back at me with a questioning look. "Come on! It will be fun, I promise" I insist "And if you get bored you can leave at any time"

"I know I can" He says with an air of superiority "I just don´t want to go in the first place, so I´ll do better staying here and avoiding the walk back" He says smartly.

"But you wont want to leave ´cause we´re gonna have fun!" I persist, close to whining.

"No" He ´s about to leave and I grab him from his jacket strongly. "Pleeaase!!" I end up whining. The sound is so annoying that he actually puts his hands in his ears.

"Ok, ok, you win! Just shut up!" He spats exasperatedly.

"Yes, yes, yes, oh, yes! We are going to party, we are going to party tonight" I sing and dance cheerfully, just for the sake of annoying him even more. Jun laughs.

"SHUT UP OR I STAY HERE!" That quiets me instantly. He walks briskly outside. I share another secret smile with Jun.

I lead the way for six blocks and take them to the _Charlie´s_ singing bar.

"What is this place?" Ren asks, a disgusted hint in his voice.

"Charlie´s" I grin at him. "My favourite bar. It´s very cool"

"I doubt that" He says unpleasantly.

"You´ll see" We enter to the large room and look for a table. I choose one near to the singing platform. This is going to be so much fun! "A bottle of Tequila, salt and many lemons, please" I ask a waitress.

"Sure, they come in a mo" She says sweetly.

"What the hell did you ask for?" Ren questions bewildered "Tequila is an alcoholic drink, right? But what is the salt and lemon for?"

"Oh, darl, you have so much to learn" I laugh.

He glares at me. "Oh yeah, knowledge on alcohol, how useful" He retorts sarcastically "I would rather not end up being a pathetic drunk, like you´re apparently managing, thank you very much"

"What a party pooper! It´s just for a bit of fun" I say joyfully, It´s not as though I didn't expect for him to have that reaction.

"What is this place anyway? How can it sell drinks to minors?" He demands.

"I know. I´ve been looking especially for the bar corrupt enough to do that since I arrived this country" I state happily. Jun bursts out laughing.

"I didn't have you for such an unhealthy girl" He half smirks "I give you that you did a good job, it could be worse"

"Thanks, my pleasure" I can see Jun observing us gleefully.

The waitress comes back with the drinks "Here´s the Tequila, the salt and loads of lemon" She carefully deposits everything in the table "I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty to sign you up for the singing contest. We are having a family night, you know? It starts at midnight, you are table 11. Have fun!" And with that she retires.

"WHAT?!" Ren exclaims angrily. Jun and I both laugh. He gives us the death glare and we make an effort to stop.

"Don't worry, you don't have to participate. When they call us we can go and you stay here" Jun soothes him. He calms down.

"I´m intrigued though" I look at him "Are you any good singing?"

"That´s something you´ll never find out" He assures.

"Don't say that, I want to hear you" I pout. "What kind of music do you like? What groups do you know?"

"Metallica, The System of a Down, Nirvana, The Strokes" He comments lightly "All classics. Also a couple of Chinese, such as Cui Jian"

I blink "Wow! Man, you know your staff! That´s so cool!!" I cry out "I never could have guessed you knew so much. I mean, yeah, I´ve seen you training with Metallica, but you seem really into it"

"Hmph" He looks away, obviously feigning disinterest.

"And now, the moment you ´ve been all waiting for!" The barman suddenly shouts with a microphone "The singing competition!"

"Who ´s the dunderhead that ´s been waiting for that?" Ren leers.

"YES!" Jun and I cry out loud along with some other people. Ren buries his head in his hands, apparently ashamed of his company.

"Table One, up here to show what you´ve got!" The barman shouts animatedly.

Two women in their late thirties climb up to the dais. "I can´t believe grown ups like those have no better use of their time" Ren sneers.

They sing an ok version of _Suddenly I see_ of KT Tunstall. Meanwhile, I serve Tequila to the three of us in the tiny cups. "Now look, Ren. You first put salt in your hand like this" I show him with my own hand. "You put your tongue in it" I do so "Thee?" Is my interpretation of _see?_ with salt in my mouth. "You dwink the dequida quicky" I say sounding like a baby and drain my glass. "And then you put the lemon in your mouth" I finish as I reach for my lemon.

"What? That is insane. Why do you have to do all that? Why don't you drink it as it comes?" He asks me puzzled.

"Oh, no. You can´t drink it like that the first times, it´s too strong" I hand him his glass. "Go on. Do as I showed you"

He gingerly takes his cup, puts it down and seizes the salt. He does as I showed him and then sips his drink. And spits it all over the table. "Eugh" He starts coughing a lot.

I pass him the lemon "Here. Put this in your mouth" He does so and quits the coughs.

"What in the name of heaven are you trying to poison me with?" He demands heatedly. Making us cackle.

"Chill out, Ren, it´s a very common drink" Jun chuckles.

"Yeah and you know, you are supposed to swallow it" I snigger. "Try it again. Don't give up on it. Not too strong for you, is it?" And now I now I´m pressing on a sensitive nerve for him.

"You wish" He cleans himself elegantly and gives the Tequila another go. This time he manages to swallow, although his face scrunches up as he reaches for the lemon.

"Table Two!" We turn around to see a group of nerdy looking 20 year old guys making their way up to the stage.

"What are they? Boy scouts?" I snigger.

"Good one" Ren half smirks at me "They do look like a bunch of loosers"

They sing or rather shriek a pop version of _Jamming_ from Bob Marley.

"No, what are they doing?" I whine "They are ruining the song"

"Yeah, what a racket" Jun sips her drink without need for the staff. This is clearly not her first time.

Ren is still having a difficult time with his, but at least he´s not spitting it out. I serve them a second round "We´ll really need this if the other tables are anywhere near this one" I say matter of factly. They nod in agreement.

The next table is a big family. They don't seem to be from the city, they are all dressed up very farm-ly. "The Ingalls family! How adorable" I joke and actually manage to make Ren snort. I smile widely at him and he looks away. Typical.

They sing _Top of the world_ in an off-key mess. And the groups keep coming and going, until finally our turn comes.

"Table Eleven!" The barman shouts genially.

"Do you mind going alone? I don't feel like singing" Jun says apologetically.

I wave it off "No problem" I go up the stairs and get to the microphone. I take one look at the crowd before starting to sing Alanis Morissette.

_I hate the world today. You're so good to me, I know but I can't change. Tried to tell you, but you look at me like maybe I'm an angel underneath, innocent and sweet._

_Yesterday I cried. Must have been relieved to see the softer side. I can understand how you'd be so confused, I don't envy you, I'm a little bit of everything all rolled into one._

_I'm a bitch, I'm a lover, I'm a child, I'm a mother, I'm a sinner, I'm a saint, I do not feel ashamed. I'm your hell, I'm your dream, I'm nothing in between, you know you wouldn't want it any other way._

_So take me as I am. This may mean you'll have to be a stronger man. Rest assured that when I start to make you nervous and I'm going to extremes, tomorrow I will change and today won't mean a thing._

_I'm a bitch, I'm a lover, I'm a child, I'm a mother, I'm a sinner, I'm a saint, I do not feel ashamed. I'm your hell, I'm your dream, I'm nothing in between, you know you wouldn't want it any other way._

_Just when you think, you got me figured out, the season's already changing. I think it's cool, you do what you do and don't try to save me._

_I'm a bitch, I'm a lover, I'm a child, I'm a mother, I'm a sinner, I'm a saint, I do not feel ashamed. I'm your hell, I'm your dream, I'm nothing in between, you know you wouldn't want it any other way._

_I'm a bitch, I'm a tease, I'm a goddess on my knees. When you hurt, when you suffer, I'm your angel undercove. I've been numb, I'm revived, can't say I'm not alive. You know I wouldn't want it any other way._

As I finish the whole room explodes with applauses. Well, I can tell that at least I didn't suck at it. I walk hurriedly to my table to find Ren staring at me hypnotized golden eyes. My heart starts beating a hundred miles an hour.

"So? How was I?" I ask breathlessly, my eyes on Ren.

Sensing the moment, Jun discreetly goes to the ladies.

"Tha-" He starts "That was very good" He continues to stare at me. I feel my face illuminating in a huge grin.

"Thanks" I sit down next to him.

"No, seriously" He insists "I ´m impressed. I didn't know you could sing like that" He says with complete honesty. A warm feeling fills up my insides.

I hold his hand in mine "Thank you" Our eyes lock together "You don't know how much your compliment means to me" I take the liberty of leaning on his shoulder. Thanks to all gods up there, he doesn't complain at this. Jun never comes back, so we stay like this for the rest of the night.

**SKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSK**

**A bit of fluff!**

**I made it longer because i couldnt log in yesterday and didnt post anything, but i really cant make them this long if I update every day. So, do I hear opinions?**


	13. Chapter 13: fury

**Chapter 13: Fury  
**

REN´S POV

"Hello there" Mariana greets cheerfully, crossing the threshold of the house. "How are you doing?"

I nod in acknowledgement, not taking my eyes of the newspaper I´m reading.

"So, I haven't seen you in three weeks" She comments casually sitting to my right, "What´s new?" I can tell she wants to make conversation. Doesn't she have anything better to do?

"Nothing" I mutter, still focused in the paper.

"Ok, then" I can hear an amused tone in her voice "Where is the sociable member of this household?"

"Living room" I reply shortly, making the point of not wanting to be disturbed in my morning reading. She gets up and leaves the kitchen.

15 minutes later, she comes back with Jun.

"Why are you leaving?" Jun says "I thought you were going to participate in the Shaman Fight"

Assuming she is talking to me, I look at her confused "What?"

"Mariana´s going to Canada" She points to said person.

"You are?" I face her, now mildly interested in the conversation.

"Yeah, but just for two months" She says lightly "Remember when I told you I was here for studies?" Jun and I nod "Well, that´s actually what I told my…… er" She hesitates "…... grandfather I was going to do here. I live with him in Canada. I had to convince him it would be beneficial for my education to do some studying here. He has no idea about shamans or anything, he doesn't like that kind of stuff"

She pauses and gestures to the milk, asking if she can have some. I pass it to her quickly, wanting her to continue. "Anyway, in two weeks is my birthday and he wants me to spend it with him" She goes on. "I´ll be back in October, you know, for the second round of fights"

"Oh" Jun says sadly "It´s going to be boring without you here"

"I know, I´m not very glad of going either" Mariana sounds sad too "Just when Japan was getting interesting" She glances at me and I look away hastily.

"So I came to say goodbye for now" She hugs Jun "I´ll see you in October" She comes over to me and puts her hand in my shoulder "You too, Ren" She squeezes it.

Jun walks her to the door "Bye Mariana"

And with that she´s gone and the house is all silent once again.

**SKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSK**

(First of October)

Jun left last month to China. Said she had something to discuss with En. I have the feeling I know what that is about.

The house is very quiet, almost deathly like. I have already finished my five hour training this morning, finished lunch and now I have the afternoon free. A strange sensation comes to me and it is a while before I can place it. I am bored. Mortally bored. There is nothing that I feel like doing. I have never felt this before, I´ve always had something to do, something useful or constructive activities I wanted to get done. But right now I don't feel like reading or studying or training or even watch the news. Nothing. I have this odd need to talk to someone. Well, _that_ is definitely a new one, if nothing else is. I´m usually quiet, when I am not annoyed or angered, kind of introverted. I never feel the necessity to communicate with other people.

So I have no idea what to do with this mood. Coming up with nothing, I decide to go for a walk. I let Bason follow on the condition he´ll be quiet.

The streets are tranquil, the sun shines brightly, not a cloud in the sky. I walk and walk peacefully. I´m thinking about going to lie down in that spot near the river, in which I spent one day with Mariana, but on my way there I encounter someone. One of the ten priests, I think his name is Silva.

He sees me and frowns "Tao Ren" He says darkly.

Huh? What´s up with this guy "What?" I ask aggressively.

He turns away "Nothing"

What is going on? "What are you doing here?" I ask, hoping to get some information.

"Yoh Azakura has his second fight today" He answers curtly. That name instantly makes me scowl. "Speaking of which, your fight is in a couple of days. And after that, Yoh will be your opponent in the final fight of the preliminaries, so you better watch out for him"

Oh. This is interesting. Finally, an opportunity to get back at that lazy idiot. "I´ll keep that in mind"

"Good. Hopefully enough with him we´ll avoid a pool of blood" He says coldly before parting.

Realization downs on me. The whole cold attitude is about Chrom. I feel my insides twisting painfully and I have the sudden need to sit down, right there in the sidewalk. _You did something that might be unforgivable_, I remember Mariana told me. I breath in very hard. Calm down, Ren. It is nothing you can amend now.

I get up slowly and go the way I saw Silva depart, freeing my mind of all thoughts about Chrom. Might as well see how that retarded Azakura does. I distantly spot said guy walking with that goofy that was accompanying him that fateful day he defeated me, and follow him without letting him notice.

His opponent is some blond weirdo, a necromancer.

Half an hour later, I´m still watching this stupid fight, nonchalant, sitting behind some tree. Can´t believe that fool is loosing to such a weak shaman. Fury burns my insides. How could I have lost against _him_? He´s no more than a looser! It was just a coincidence, no more than that.

Ultimately, he looses. Pathetic! That necromancer wants to finish him. Getting up slowly, I sigh heavily. Looks like I got to intervene. Can´t let that Yoh Azakura die before I prove I´m stronger than him.

I easily destroy the weirdo´s oversoul and warn Azakura that I´m his next adversary. With that done, I walk back home still furious, decided to train hard for the rest of the day.

**SKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSK**

**Sorry, I need Ren to be like that a bit more.**


	14. Chapter 14: mariana

**Damn college doesnt let me write as much as i want! But here it is. This is Mariana´s story, it´s mostly dialogue.**

**Enjoyyy  
**

**Chapter 14: Mariana  
**

MARIANA´S POV

"Helloooo!!!!" I run happily inside the Tao´s house

"Oh, it´s you" Ren comments carelessly, watching the news on television. "Back here already?"

"Hey, you know, you could try to sound a little bit more excited about my return" I say, putting an offended look on my face.

"Yeah, I could" He agrees, without taking his eyes off the TV. I stare at him disbelievingly. "But I wont" He adds.

"Oh, god, thanks, for a moment there I thought something horrible had happened to you while I was gone" Laughing, I go over to him and pat him friendly on the shoulder.

"So…, you already had your second fight right?" I ask.

"Yes, just yesterday" He answers monotonously.

"And? How did it go?" I press.

"Piece of cake" He says, still with that dull tone.

"Ok, I get it, no elaboration" I sit down next to him "Where´s Jun?"

"China" His whole focus stays persistently on the TV. The commercials come and he finally turns that thing off.

I wave a hand in front of his face "Hello, can you indulge me with your attention just for a moment, please?"

He turns to me slowly "I guess I could" As I´m about to continue my questioning, he smirks at me and stands up. "But I wont" And leaves for the kitchen.

Following him, I can´t stop myself from grinning madly. I missed him so much!

"Wow, you are funny today?" I joke "No, seriously, why´s Jun gone to China? I thought she was staying with you for all the preliminaries"

He looks for milk, opens it and takes a large gulp. "I´m not sure, she didn't specify what she was going to do" He responds evasively.

"Alright, you don't have to tell me" I sit down on a chair. He does so as well. "And how have _you_ been?" I shoot at him, looking into his eyes.

He looks away. "Fine" He mutters.

"What have you been doing?" I persist.

"Training" Man, this is useless.

"Mmm, sounds fun" I say jokingly "Well, I´ve come back here to prevent that from happening ´till the end of the days. You know what you could do? You could show me your bedroom!" I´m only half faking excitement.

He looks at me, a tad bewildered "What for?"

"Just curious" I smile at him "It´s the only room in the house I have yet to meet"

"Hmph. Follow me" He stands and goes upstairs, with me at his heels. He opens a door and helds it open for me. We enter a large room with a king seized bed against the wall opposite to the door. The entire room is in red, black and brown. There seem to be no other personal things inside his bedroom beside his Kwan Dao and his spirit tablet.

I run to the bed and throw myself right in the middle. "This is so comfortable"

He comes calmly and sits himself in the edge. "Happy now?"

"Very" I beam at him. He leans back and we stay there quietly for a couple of minutes. "Still not going to tell me about Jun?" I ask eventually.

He sighs "No"

More silent minutes pass. I can tell he´s in a meditative mood.

"Are you ever going to tell me about that bloke from the day I met you?" He suddenly blurts out.

I move my head to look at him straight in the eye "I see, I get your point" I pause for a moment. "If I tell you my story, will you tell me yours?"

He hesitates "I thought you said you had talked to Jun" He responds quietly.

"I did. But I want to hear your version"

It´s a good 15 minutes before he whispers "Ok"

Now it´s my turn to sigh. I face the ceiling and clear my throat. "O-ok" I breathe in and out. "Well…I-I erm…lived the first six years of my life with my parents, the Cheung family. You see, I am actually Chinese, but…things happened" I breathe again. "On my sixth birthday, we went to Japan to visit some relatives. Jack and Naomi Suzuki, my first time visiting them. We took two long planes there, very rainy, I remember. Took a cab right outside the airport a-and" My voice shakes badly and I take another deep breath. I can feel Ren´s eyes on me "And…and…it was awfully rainy, all foggy and…the driver didn't see the truck and…well, y-you know" My voice shakes some more "They didn't make it, not the driver, nor my parents"

Now I really need a moment. I take Ren´s hand and thankfully he doesn't complain. After a while, I go on "So these Suzuki were the only relatives I had. Awful people, I found out. Apparently, my parents hadn't seen them in years and they had missed a few things. I lived in their house for two years, the worst two years of my life. They were into drugs and also sold it. Very poor quality though, I guess, they didn't have much money. And spent all of my parents money in no time. As I had no friends or acquaintances in Japan, my situation went easily unnoticed. The Suzuki had some other nasty ways that I would rather not mention" At this, I can feel his gaze piercing me. "But I will tell you that they were rather violent. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore and I ran away from there" Another pause.

Finally looking at Ren, I say "I need some water"

He stands up quickly "I´ll go get some"

I´m moved by his obvious concern for me. He comes back rapidly and hands me a glass. I drain it before continuing "I had nowhere to go" I say calmly "I had to live in the street. It was difficult at first but I managed. I made some friends, very useful ones, indeed, that helped me. You know, we had to steal to survive" I glance at Ren. "That was my life for three years, until, one day, I was sort of involved in a crime. This agency took me to a reformatory for minors. I was locked up there for a couple of months. In that place I met Richard Landon. Some old Scottish man who was there for business. He saw me and we talked a bit. I told him about the Suzuki and their involvement with drugs, this earned them a one way ticket to jail. Weirdly enough, the day following our meet, Richard came back saying he was taking me in. Must have noticed how pretty I was" I grin at Ren, trying to lighten the mood. "So he took me. We lived in Scotland ´til last year, he randomly decided to move to Canada. He´s really odd. Well, I mean he fought in the Second World War and everything, difficult not to be odd. This is the guy I told you was my grandfather, remember?" Ren nods. "In the first year of my life with Richard, I met Celandine and she was the one who told me I was a shaman. We were friends instantly and she helped me investigate everything on the shamans and, ultimately, I found out about the Shaman Fight and The Great Spirits. Last year I told the whole lie of having to study in Japan and all. Richard Landon doesn't believe in spirits and think those who do are mental so I couldn't have convinced him to pay me a trip to Japan otherwise" Ren frowns and I smile sincerely at him. "Yeah, I know, I told you, he´s a bit of a maniac. But he´s very nice with me, I can assure you"

I take a big breath for the end. "So…the night you rescued me was the night I reencountered Jack Suzuki. I heard Naomi died in prison. You made it just in time to save me" I finish.

I face Ren. He´s staring at me with a pensive expression. "Well, that´s some story" He finally says awkwardly, making me snort. "I - I´m sorry" He stammers.

"Don't be" I touch his face lightly "You got rid of that bastard for me" I lean in slowly and kiss his cheek "Thank you"

He goes totally red "Right" He mumbles.

"Ok, you turn" I smirk.


	15. Chapter 15: ren

**Chapter 15: Ren  
**

REN´S POV

"_Ok, you turn" She smirks._

Mariana´s looking at me expectantly. Now it´s my turn to face the ceiling.

"There´s not much to tell really" I explain "I mean, if Jun already told you the basic story, the rest is predictable"

She doesn't comment on this, just keeps waiting for me to begin my tale.

"Ok then" I mutter. "Do you know the story of my ancestors? All about how old governors of China betrayed us?"

"Yep" She answers.

"Well, the history of the betrayal of the Taos is law in all the family" I start telling. "I, being the only male born in the last five decades, am expected to be the successor of the Tao family and the one to restore it" I say boringly. "So, you know, that is what I was trained for my whole life. And with the Shaman Tournament coming and everything, my family thinks my winning it is going to bring back the prestige of the Tao name. Therefore I was tutored since birth in all the shaman arts and all sorts of stuffs"

Time for a breath. She waits patiently. I continue "So it´s been all the typical talk since ever: _Never trust anyone_, _The strongest one possesses the justice_, _Hate hate hate_, etc, etc, etc. They even have the whole corpse army and everything" For some reason, it takes an effort to say these things lightly. "And they keep on and on telling me the whole thing of restoring the empire of the Taos. As if I´m even interested in doing _that_" I snort. "The only thing I´m interested in is becoming the Shaman King, and for _my_ reasons, not theirs!"

"Well, you know what happens next. I met people in here, including you, and saw things that are opening my eyes. I don't think I understand it all yet, but I will eventually. My brain is a tumult right now, but I know everything will clear up for me" I finish. "And that's all I have to say about that"

"Very good" Mariana grins "I´m impressed, I didn't expect so much elaboration. I was sure you were going to hear my complete story and then leave without saying anything"

"Throw you out rather" I smirk. "This is my room, remember?"

"Almost forgot" She chuckles.

**(A couple of hours later)**

I´m doing my afternoon training and Mariana´s decided to stay and watch. It´s not the first time she does that, I don't get what she finds so entertaining about it (AN: But we do!!!). I don't mind it at all, I just find it weird.

As soon as I´m done, she comes over me to bring me some milk.

"You know you want it" She teases me. Finding that annoying, I snatch the milk from her hand quickly and turn away to go for a bath"

"Wait!" I look at her questioningly. "I have been meaning to ask you, what is with that tattoo on your back?" She seems genuinely intrigued.

"All man of the Tao clan get it when they are young" I respond.

"Wow! It´s very cool!" She exclaims delighted. _Cool?_ What does she mean by that? Boy, she´s strange.

"Right" I say sardonically and head for the bathroom.

**(A week later)**

It´s a cold night and I´m watching Mariana fighting her opponent of the second round. I have to admit she´s pretty good. Her adversary is a young woman that uses the spirit of a leopard.

The woman performs a frontal attack, which Mariana blocks effortlessly and counters it with a strike of her own, instantly obtaining victory.

Then, surprisingly enough, she goes and helps her opponent get back to her feet.

"Good fight!" She says cheerfully. "You were a real challenge" However, during the fight it hadn't seem as though Mariana had found her challenging at all.

"Not bad" I give her as she makes her way towards me.

"Thanks" She smiles "Lets go to a Macdonald´s to celebrate!"

"Celebrate what?" I gaze at her disbelievingly "You finished in less than ten minutes"

"Yeah, lets celebrate that!" She insists eagerly.

"Is this one of your bizarre excuses to _go and party_?" I quote her with derision.

"That's right!" She replies optimistically "Although, of course three is the minimum number of people to _go and party_, so we´ll call this a celebration. Shall we go?"

"Alright then" I agree defeatedly.

She leads the way to the location and we enter it. The place is full, the queues are eternal, people are noisy, decoration with colours that are hurting my eyes……basically hell for me.

"What a racket!" I complain loudly. Some people turn to stare at me. I glare at them and they hastily disappear of my sight. "How can you like this place?!"

"It´s Macdonald´s, I love it" She says simply.

"Well, being my first time here, I have to say you´re nuts if you can enjoy _this_!" I retort irritably.

"What?!" She cries "You´re telling me this is your first time in a Macdonald´s?! No way!"

"I´ve _never_ entered one before" I assure her "Otherwise I wouldn't have agreed to come, because I find it disgusting"

She ogles at me "Man, I sometimes feel like you come from a totally different planet"

"Yeah, yeah" I wave off her comment "You have tortured me enough for the night. Now, could we go somewhere else?" I demand.

"Ok, I get it, it´s not your sort of place. I´ll just ask for food to go. Wait outside" She goes to do the queue.

I get out of the building as fast as I can. Pure air, tolerable noises, colours that are not yellow, I can be a person again.

Getting cold again, I close the zip up the blue jacket I´m wearing. Looking at the busy street, I begin to meditate about the Shaman Tournament. The time I have to fight the Azakura kid is getting close. Even though my result in that fight has no influence in my qualification to participate in the real thing, given that I have already won two battles out of three, the fight with that guy feels like the most important one. I will be fighting for my pride, which I felt I lost when he defeated me. The only person to ever do so. I can´t get that moment out of my head.

"All ready to go" Mariana comes back with two packages, she glances at me and stops walking. "Is something wrong?"

I turn away. "No. We are going to the river" I say shortly and start walking.

"……….Ok" She follows me.

We get there in no time and I lay myself down on the grass. She sits next to me and hands me my package. "Here you go" She says.

We eat silently, just watching the view. The sky is clear, covered with stars and a full moon. Surprisingly, the hamburger turns out to be decent, as well as the French fries. I finish everything and we still have to say a word.

"So? Are you going to tell me what was bothering you?" She enquires.

"It´s nothing, just thinking about my next shaman fight" I try to say lightly, but she doesn't seem to have bought it. "Yoh Azakura is my next opponent. It´s this guy tha-"

"Yoh Azakura? Yeah I know him and I know you know him" She tells me promptly "I met him on his first fight, that was when I found out about Chrom"

Feeling a sudden pain in my chest, I close my eyes. "Right" I reply depressingly. "Well, I met him a week after I got here, Japan. We had a fight and……he won" It is very difficult to admit it. "The first time I lost in my life, you know? But I´m sure it was only a coincidence. I´ll prove I´m better than him" I declare confidently.

She grins and takes my hand "I´m sure you will"


	16. Chapter 16: remeeting

** Chapter 16: Re-meeting**

MARIANA´S POV

December. Christmas is getting near, Ren´s birthday is getting near. And I still have no idea what to get him for both occasions. I´m at a mall close to my house and it´s been hours since I´m circling the place in search for a present. He´s really hard to shop to! Damn him and his weirdness!

Finally, I give up and decide to postpone the search for another day. It´s so cold outside that I´m wearing three sweaters. It´s a cloudy day, not at all matching with my good spirits. I´m really quite cheerful. My relationship with Ren is progressing faster than I thought it would. I was afraid I wasn't going to make any friends here in Japan, ´cause it had been so long since my last time here. And here I am, making my possibly best friend ever. But what most surprises me is how quickly he´s changing. He doesn't seem to find me annoying at all anymore. Although, other people do seem to keep irritating him, I guess he´ll never get to be sociable. But that is ok. I like him that way. I like that he´s like no one I have ever met before and his personality is so interesting. Ok, I´ll admit it to myself, what I really like of him is that he´s peculiar.

My train of thought is interrupted when I accidentally bump into someone.

"Oh, god, I´m so sorry! I wasn't looking!" I look up to find myself face to face with a very tall guy who has a very odd hairdo. "Er…" I say stupidly.

"No, no problem at all. What is such cute little girl like you doing here on her own?" The weirdo says, I can see small hearts forming in his eyes. Man, who is this lunatic?!

"Stop harassing strangers, Ryu" A stern voice talks from below. I look down and find a familiar face.

"Manta?" I ask in wonder.

"Mariana?" His eyes go round.

"Wow! What a coincidence" I exclaim delighted. "What are you doing here? Do you live nearby?"

"No, actually, Ryu" Manta gestures the weirdo standing next to him "and I were about to go and look for Yoh. He went away to his grandparents house"

"That´s nice" I reply.

"And what are you doing here?" He asks.

"I was trying to find a present for Ren, you know, Christmas is coming soon, and his birthday is in New Year"

Manta sweatdrops "A present for Ren Tao, huh? That is so strange. So you fixed things with him?"

"Yeah, he really is trying to change for good. He can be very nice when he tries" I pause. "Well, not nice, but decent at least"

Manta stares at me in disbelief "I´m having a hard time picturing that" He glances at his watch. "Anyway, we have to get going"

"Don't you want to come with us?!" The guy called Ryu suddenly cries out, making me laugh.

"Don't be stupid" Manta seems very embarrassed.

"I´m not being stupid" Ryu states angrily. "Please oh please, be our companion in this journey" He pleads.

"Well" I chuckle "How far away is it?"

"Oh, it´s nothing!" He assures lightly. "Just a four hour trip"

"Four hours?!" Now I´m laughing hard. "That´s definitely something, man!" I compose myself. "Well, I have nothing better to do now, so….sure!" I smile at him.

"Yes, come on, lets go!" He runs towards a motorbike parked next to the supermarket.

"Are you sure you want to come? You don't have to, he just wants to ask you out" Manta guarantees me.

"Yeah, I can tell" I snort "But I don't mind, he doesn't seem a bad guy. He´s funny actually"

"What?!" Manta yells as we make our way over to Ryu. "You are considering going out with _him_?"

"No way" I laugh "I mean I think he´s amusing and it wont hurt if he just flirts. Of course if he tries something I´ll reject him" I explain simply.

"That should be fun" He smiles.

We get to the motorbike, Ryu is riding it, I go behind him and Manta goes in the companion seat. And off we go.

**(Four hours and a half later)**

We took a bit longer than expected because we stopped at a service station to eat something, but we are here. Yoh´s grandparents place is huge. We go inside, where we meet this very nice and shy girl, Tamao. Ryu tries to hit on her too but she doesn't take it that well.

Later, we see Anna and she explains Yoh is doing some sort of training. "We´re expecting for him to come out any time soon" Yoh´s grandfather says.

After a couple of minutes, out he comes. Following all the greetings, we go inside the house to rest and catch up in this re-meeting.

"Mariana, how have you been doing?" Yoh smiles at me.

"Very well!" I beam at him. "I won my second fight with no problems, it´s fantastic!"

"Nice one" He congratulates me. "So, how´s Ren doing?"

"Good" I say honestly. "Well, mostly. He´s kind of obsessed with this fight against you, you know? He´s training like mad"

Yoh sweatdrops "I bet he is"

"Yep. He´ll give you an awfully hard time, I can tell you that"

**SKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSK**

**Next chap is christmas and ren´s birthday!**


	17. Chapter 17: celebrations

**I´m so pathetic and lazy that this chapter took me forever to right, so you better enjoy it!!! **

**Chapter 17: Celebrations  
**

REN´S POV

**(24th of December)**

This girl is barking mad! Mariana came home very early claiming that she was going to bring some Christmas in my heart. What the hell do I need that for? Stupid festive day, only created as an excuse to _go and party_. No wonder the girl likes it so much. I hate celebratory days, anyway. Always full of noise and exaggeratedly cheerful people, everyone gets so irritating!

When I told her I had never celebrated Christmas, Chinese or otherwise, she almost went nuts. What is the big deal about that? I mean, she knows I´m no fan of parties.

Anyway, as soon as she was done with her stupid speech of the importance of Christmas, she went away for a couple of hours and came back with lots of boxes. In those boxes were my worst nightmares……. _Christmas-y stuff_!!!!!!! She wasted no time in covering the whole place in mistletoe and reindeer, Santa Clauses and snowman figures. She completely ignored my protests of _"Get that garbage out of my property!!!"_ and went even further………….she brought a Christmas tree. Taller than us!

So, now here I am, watching her decorating the damn tree and not gaining enough courage to throw her and all this stuff out, because she looks so happy and she´s putting a lot of effort into it. What the fuck is going on with me?! What is happening to my personality??!!

"All done!" Mariana cries with enthusiasm as she finishes the decoration. "Isn´t it beautiful?"

I look up at the tree. Not bad, it´s not as sickening as I thought it would be. "Yeah, sure" I answer dully.

"Now I have to go for the food" She runs out of the house. This is going to be a very long day…

**(At 9 pm that day)**

Going downstairs, I can hear Mariana singing from the kitchen. I enter the room and find her half cooking some tuna tart and half dancing and singing:

_Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! O what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh_

"Stop jumping around, you´re gonna ruin the meal" I tell her as I take a seat.

"Worry not!" She replies merrily "I´m done, wait till I get the table set"

I have to give her she´s very efficient, in less than a minute I´m eating some delicious food. "Congratulations, this is edible" I comment.

"Oh, thanks" She laughs "I did my best"

As soon as we are finished she says "There will be for sure loads of fireworks at the river and I have a few of my own……interested?"

"No" I deadpan.

"Please?" She asks smiling nicely.

I sigh. "Ok, but not for long" I give in.

The walk to the river is surprisingly pleasant. Being early, the streets are tranquil. However, all tranquillity ends when we get to the river. It´s already full of people making commotion. I glare at Mariana and she just shrugs innocently. Damn the girl!

"Look at the sky" She whispers in wonder.

And I have to admit, a wonder it is. The normally dark night sky is now full of many colours, mixed in a stunning combination, due to all the fireworks. I stare mesmerized.

"Beautiful, huh?" She murmurs. "Wait right here" She runs excitedly to the edge of the river to throw her own fireworks.

She has some pretty good stuff, but not much. Not 20 minutes have passed when she returns. "That´s all I could afford" A sheepish grin on her face.

Without looking at her I say "That was nice"

Even as I´m fixing my gaze at the sky, I can perceive a beam radiating from her face. She takes my hand in hers, sits down on the grass and pulls me down next to her. We both lie down to enjoy the sight.

**(11:30 pm)**

It´s getting too cold, so we head back home. I make Mariana hurry because now the streets _are_ noisy. For some reason, she seems to find my irritation amusing.

When we get there she turns to me "Ok, you have to admit that wasn't _that_ bad"

"No, I don't have to" I smirk slightly at her.

"It was nice!" She insists.

"Everything´s nice to you" I snort "You are just too easy to satisfy"

She gives me the finger, which just makes my smirk widen. "You are a pessimist, you know that?" She doesn't wait for an answer "It´s almost midnight" She puts her bag on the table and looks for something in it.

"Here it is!" She takes out a small wrapped packet and hands it to me "Happy Christmas, Ren" She says softly, a gentle smile on her face.

I grab it uncertainly. "Oh" It´s all I manage to say. This is unexpected. I have never received presents at Christmas, nor have I given any. And today was no exception to the last. "I didn't get you anything" I mutter.

"You don't have to" She really doesn't seem to mind "Come on, open it!"

Not looking away from her face, I open the gift slowly. It´s a CD, from U2. Never heard of it. I look at her in question.

"Yeah, I guessed you wouldn't know about it. U2 is a rock band that is not depressive like all the other stuff you hear" She smiles widely "While the things you here are very good, all of that is too gloomy, so I got you some positive rock group for a change. You know, so it can match _your_ changing"

"Oh" I repeat stupidly. What´s up with me today?! "Well….thanks"

"I promise you´ll like it" She assures, and her face suddenly lights up "Lets eat cake now!"

**SKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSK**

**(31st of December)**

The Christmas decoration is _still_ hanging all around the house, and now she wants to celebrate New Year!!! This girl gives me headaches.

"Yes! This is going to be a fantastic year!" She jumps up and down in elation "We have to _go and party_!!! Charlie´s will be open for sure!"

"Being new year, wont they close?" I ask bored, my head resting in my hand and my elbow on the kitchen table.

"No, the alcohol dealing mafia never rests!" She climbs on the table and laughs out loud crazily. Honestly, she´s kind of freaking me out a bit.

"Ok, calm down now" I order and am pleased that she obeys instantly, getting off the table.

"I´ll go to my place and get myself fixed, you should do that too" She grabs her red sack and heads for the door "I´ll come to pick you up at 11 pm. Bye!"

**(11:30 pm)**

"You just love loads of noise, don't you?" So she´s dragged me to this condemned bar again. Why do I ever let her do that? What is _wrong_ with me?

"Party pooper" She mumbles as we get a table next to the window "Do you ever have fun at all?" She demands, half smiling.

"No. Why would I want to do that?" I respond easily.

She goggles at me "Never mind"

Suddenly, a waitress brings us some whiskey. That´s strange, we didn't order anything. I´m about to tell that to the waitress, but Mariana speaks up first.

"Thanks!" She happily takes the bottle. As soon as the woman is gone she asks casually "Care for a drink?"

I raise an eyebrow at her and hand her my glass. There is something mysterious going on here. "Only five minutes" She comments, filling both of our glasses.

A couple of minutes later, the barman gets up the dais and speaks on the microphone "Here it is, the moment we have all been waiting for! Only mere seconds away! Can I ask you all to accompany me in the countdown?"

"Yes!" Mariana yells with everyone else. This is so ridiculous!

"Fantastic!" The barman cries genially "So here we go 30, 29-"

All the place starts the loud countdown with him, my companion here included. Why oh why did I ever agree to this torture?

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, happy New Year to you all!" Everyone cheers the barman.

"Happy New Year, Ren!" Mariana cries animatedly.

She raises her glass to me to toast. I reluctantly raise my own cup and, as our eyes lock together, we connect our glasses in a clink. "Happy New Year to you to" I finally say.

Abruptly, out of nowhere, five waiters appear and start singing:

**Happy Birthday to you**

**Happy Birthday to you**

**Happy Birthday dear Renny**

**Happy Birthday to you**

_Oh no oh no oh no oh no_. And it doesn't stop there. They sing exactly the same song about three more times, the whole place joining them. Mariana, who´s also singing, has a twisted smile on her face. That bitch! This is all her fault! I start felling very hot, even though it´s plain winter, and glare deeply at her.

When the singing is done with, a huge cake is deposited in front of me, and the waiters and Mariana start crying at me "Make a wish, Ren, make a wish!" I would really like to die right now, or rather I would like they could die.

"Come on, Ren" Mariana smiles sincerely at me "Make a wish and blow the candles"

A wish. I look around to find all the people staring at me expectantly. A wish. My greatest desire is to become the Shaman King. A wish. But I am already confident that I´ll manage that. A wish. I look up to find Mariana´s brown and beautiful eyes staring at me and the lightening smile present in her lips, so mesmerizing, like always. A wish……I wish that smile never vanishes.

Finally, I blow the candles at once. I hear applauses fill the place and my face feels like it´s on fire. I will never forgive Mariana for this.

Thankfully, after that the crowd disperses and I´m no longer the centre of attention. I glare once more at Mariana. "I hate you" I inform her.

"I know" She grins, handing me a piece of cake.

After several pieces of cake and many more drinks, we stumble slowly back home. My head is not thinking straight due to the alcohol, so it takes me some time to insert the key in the lock to enter the house. Eventually, I manage and we both hurry to throw ourselves in the living room sofa.

"This is going to be some headache tomorrow" She enlightens me.

"Uh-huh" It´s all I can say in this state.

"Stay here" She gets up and leaves the room. She comes back with a package on her hands. Another present? Boy, she likes to spend money.

"Here, happy birthday" She hands it to me.

I take it "You know, this is very unnecessary" I tell her with all honesty.

She smiles at me "I know, I just want to"

I open it and stare at what is inside. Combat clothes. Black ones. I take them out of the box to have a better look at them. They look very cool and comfortable. There´s a small hole on the back where I guess the ying yang image of my tattoo should go (AN: You know the ones I´m talking about right?). They are so very cool!

"This…" My gaze turns to her "This is really good. Thank you"

"My pleasure"

**SKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSK**

**Opinions?**


	18. Chapter 18: ceremony

**Short chapie, I promise to update soon**

**enjoy!!!! **

**Chapter 18: Ceremony**

MARIANA´S POV

Entering Ren´s place, I don't find him in the kitchen or the living room. As we are only a week away from his fight with Yoh Azakura, I figure he must be in the gym room training his ass out. But he´s not there either. Strange. He doesn't go out much, specially during the day, where he might encounter crowds.

Hearing sound coming from outside, I walk lazily to the garden and finally find him. He is training. With his Kwan Dao. And the battle costume I gave him. And listening to _Stuck in the moment_ from the U2 CD I also gave him. This probably thrills me more than it should.

Walking towards him with a giant smile, I observe his smooth and perfect movements with his weapon. He really is something else. Suddenly, he does a swirl and I end up watching his back. His tattoo. I don't know why but I find it very entrancing. It´s just too cool, almost sexy. Of course now I can´t get the full effect, only works when his back is bare.

He quits his practice when he spots me watching him. "Hey" He says idly "How did your fight go last night?" He heads for the door.

"Difficult. The guy was very good, took me about an hour to win" I follow him inside.

"An hour?" He leers "You disappoint me"

"Oh, shut up" I snap at him jokingly. "So, nervous about next week?"

"Not at all" He replies confidently "I could win against that guy with my eyes closed"

"Then how did he defeat you last time?" I ask just for the sake of annoying him.

"If you value your life you wont joke about that again" He grunts angrily "That was just a coincidence, he must have gotten lucky or something"

"Ok, I´m sorry, I didn't mean to upset you" I say apologetically.

"I´m not upset" He says shortly. "I´m gonna take a bath. A long one, so you better go"

And with that he leaves me alone in the kitchen. Great, now I got him all offended and he wont talk to me. I should have known better than to joke with something like that.

**(A week later)**

The night is freezing in the park. None of these two guys have showed up yet, so I´m here alone, waiting like an idiot. At last, Yoh appears along with Manta.

"Hi, how are you two doing?" I ask amicably.

"Fine" Yoh gives me his classic lazy grin "Ren´s not here yet?"

"No, I have no idea where he can be" I look around in hope of spotting him somewhere. Giving up after finding a clear area, I turn to Manta "You come as spectator as well?"

"Yeah" Manta mutters, also searching around.

"So, Yoh" I say to the guy "What´s your situation? Do you have to win this fight or have you won the other fights?"

"No, I lost one" He laughs carelessly "I have to win tonight"

"Well, good luck with that, Ren´s decided to win too" I warn him

"I know"

Eventually, Ren does turn up and the shaman fight begins. Immediately, I can tell Ren is far stronger than Yoh and he quickly gains the upper hand.

But something´s not right. He´s very distracted and is having a hard time concentrating in the encounter. I can see it in his eyes that he´s doubting again, thinking about his past and his family. His face is contorting in anger.

All of this pains me, but for some reason I know this is right, this is meant to be. He has to doubt and get confused and question himself to find his own way. This are the only means by which he can finish settling the changes he started to experience since he first came to Japan.

The inevitable happens. The battle ends and the victory is apparently for Yoh………or so Ren says. But actually they both lost their oversoul at the same moment, so Silva calls it a draw.

As this was the last fight of the preliminaries, we have the opening ceremony of the Shaman Tournament. Here, the priests tell us that the next challenge is a month away and that we should receive all information on that through the Oracle Bells. They also give us a speech about how we´ll better say goodbye to our loved ones or some crap like that, but I don't hear anymore. Instead, I stare at Ren. He´s looking pensive. Something doesn't seem right with him.

The ceremony doesn't last more than half an hour. After that, Yoh somehow manages to nag Ren into going to his house to celebrate all of ours qualification to the tournament. So we all make the way there under the dark sky.

This is going to be some night!


	19. Chapter 19: one

**Chapter 19: One  
**

REN´S POV

In the end, we don't go at Azakura´s residence at all, but rather stay at an inn. Some idiot with blue hair, who´s apparently Yoh´s friend, gets drunk and loud in no time. He even dares to come and tell me that I´m obviously staying here so I can save some money. Of course I put the idiot in his place at once.

Mariana seems to be having fun. She´s been drinking a bit too much herself. "Are you trying to get intoxicated?" I snap at her.

"Maybe" She gives me a silly smile.

"Well, I´m not helping you getting back to your house tomorrow" I guarantee her.

"What a gentleman" She mumbles. "Don't be such a killjoy. You can get drunk too if you want" She suggests, grinning cheekily and offering me a glass of Daikiri.

"Yeah, that would be fun" The blue haired guy laughs. "Lets get this uptight chap pissed!"

"Why? Feeling lonely in your inebriated world?" I smirk at him.

"That´s not true" He spats drunkenly "You are the only one sober in here"

"Maybe, but out of all the un-sober people, you are the only one who looks pathetic in here" I retort quickly.

Mariana laughs out loud, but the blue one doesn't seem to have appreciated my comment. He grabs me by the collar of my yellow jacket. I assume he´s trying to look threatening, but he´s wasting his time. "Who are you calling pathetic?!" He spats again at my face.

"You" I answer simply, grasp his arms and throw him against the nearest wall with little effort. "Any problem with that?" I glare at the stupid boy.

"Ok, Ren" Yoh says sweatdropping "That´s enough guys"

With a _Hmph_ I leave the fallen idiot and turn to find Mariana laughing her ass out. "Something funny?" I snap at her, taking my seat at her left.

"Yeah. You" She goes on sniggering. I glare at her uselessly, it never has effect on her.

Later, we take a long bath and get ready to sleep.

"´Night, Ren" Mariana tells me sleepily. She looks very tired, even though it´s very early. Too bad she has to share rooms with that evil women, Anna I think her name was. She doesn't seem a pleasant companion to sleep with.

The lights are turned off, everyone gets to bed, including myself. But I never manage to sleep. My brain is in a commotion. I can´t help but think of everything I´m finally understanding, everything I´m learning and everything of which I´ve been proven wrong. Mariana did well, I do feel proven wrong, at least with some people.

Unable to keep still in a bed, I decide to go to the garden to meditate.

Thoughts come immediately to my head. All of my life I have believed that most of the human race didn't deserve to live. Even more present is the idea that spirits are only tools, but it doesn't seem so anymore. The main question is…………..why did I believe all of that? Jun used to agree with the idea of using spirits and corpses for our every whim. However, she has never seemed too inclined to the idea of destroying unworthy people. Why is that? My most plausible guess is that my family put much more effort in me than in her, given that I am the heir.

The reason why I thought all of these things is because of what I saw in my own environment. My biggest influence must be my father, he is the one who taught me all about the things related to battle, shamans and spirits, after all. His cruel ways and nasty views on life have always left a bitter taste in my mouth. Killing people for our benefit was a custom, dealing with corpses a habit, untrusting of anyone a law.

Now my eyes are open, I can see. All of that can´t have been healthy. I feel the weight of all my past on my shoulders, all the grudge throbbing in my veins, all the hate poisoning my heart. And now that I´m aware of all of this, I can identify it´s cause. My family, my surroundings, my past and also a little of me. I have the will to change, my past can´t be undone, my previous surroundings are not alike my present surroundings and don't need to be. As for my family, Jun has nothing to do with the issue, there´s not much to say about my mother, she mainly took care of my home-school education, my grandfather had something to do with it but he´s quite old. That only leaves one person. One wall between me and freedom. One link between me and hatred. My father.

So, now I know what I have to do. I should get changed into decent clothes and part as soon as I can. I am about to enter the house when…

"Ren" I hear Mariana´s voice behind me. "Having trouble sleeping?"

I turn around. She´s on her pyjamas and slippers. There are bags under her eyes. "Go back to bed, you idiot!" I order with a low voice, not wanting to wake the others up. "You are exhausted!"

"I heard someone outside and sensed something was going on" She murmurs.

"Well, nothing´s going on, so off with you. You look like a zombie" I snap.

"Coming from you that almost sounds like a compliment" She jokes.

I sigh deeply. How am I going to get rid of her?

She approaches me slowly until we are only half a meter away from each other. "Are you leaving?" She whispers "Are you going back to China" Her voice shakes slightly.

"Yes" I answer quietly.

"Why?" The quiver on her voice is more noticeable this time.

"´Cause I have to" I whisper as well "It´s necessary to complete my change"

"But-" She starts.

"No" I interrupt brusquely "I _have_ to. There is no room for buts" She seems upset and faces the ground. I suddenly have an incomprehensible need to make her feel better "I´ll be back in no time. I promise"

Our eyes lock together. She reaches for my face, touches my cheek lightly and says "Ok then. Good luck"

**SKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSK**

**Any thoughts?**


	20. Chapter 20: headstrong

**Hi people! Well this chapter isn´t very innovative cause you have already read the manga or seen the anime, but it´s nice at the end from the point of view of my girl.**

**On with story  
**

**Chapter 20: Headstrong**

MARIANA´S POV

"_Ok then. Good luck"_

After that, I enter the house and get back to the bed. But it´s useless, I´m not sleeping tonight, there´s too much on my mind. An hour goes by before I give up on it. I get up and exit the residence.

Surprisingly enough, in the garden I find Yoh sitting on the grass. What´s with this night that no one can sleep? I walk over to him and sit down next to him.

"Sleep´s been avoiding you too?" I grin at him.

"Yeah" He grins back "This is a strange night" He pauses for a moment and looks to the door that leads out of the house "Ren left half an hour ago"

"I know" I look up at the sky.

"He´s going back to China" Yoh presses.

"Yeah, I know" I repeat, sighing.

"What do you think about that?"

"I don't know" I answer worriedly. "He said he would be back in no time" I take a big breath and blink repeatedly "But I have a bad feeling about this"

"Don't worry so much" Yoh smiles tranquilly "He knows how to take care of himself"

"He sure does" I chortle "I don't know what I´m worried about, I just am"

"You care for him a lot" Yoh says simply.

"Yes, I do" I admit "He´s a good friend after all" I get up slowly. "I am probably just being paranoid. Although it wouldn't surprise me much if he got in trouble with that temper of his" I laugh and Yoh does so too.

"I´m going for a walk" I tell him.

"Want company?" He offers kindly, even though I can tell he is all ready to go back to bed.

"No, thanks" I smile "I just need to be alone for a while"

"Ok, goodnight" He calls as I´m leaving.

"´Night"

**(The next day)**

Ultimately, I never managed to sleep. I stayed up all night watching TV trying to get a distraction from my thoughts. Some Friends seasons I´ve bought last year.

But the qualms never leave my mind. I can´t stop worrying about Ren. Somehow, I know something bad has happened to him, I can almost sense it.

As I´m submerged in these contemplations, the phone rings, abruptly bringing me out of my stupor. In the stupid hope that it might be Ren, I go over it hurriedly and pick it up.

"Hello?" I answer anxiously.

"Mariana?"

"Manta?" I ask disappointedly.

"Yeah" He responds briskly "Something has happened. Bason just came here at the inn this morning saying that we have to help him, that Ren´s in trouble!"

I feel my heart falling right to the floor. "No…" I whisper.

"Yes" Manta says bluntly "I´m sorry Mariana, but it´s true. Now´s not the time to get all panicked. Hurry up and come over to Yoh´s place so we can go to help him"

"Ok, I´ll be right there" I hung the phone and run to my room to get changed as fast as I can.

It takes me no more than ten minutes to get to Yoh´s. They are all ready to leave. Perfect. It´s Yoh, Manta, Horohoro, Ryu and me. We get going immediately. This is probably going to be the longest journey of my life.

As soon as we find seats in the train, I make my self sleep. It´s evident I´ll need all my energies for this trip.

**(10 days later)**

Finally, we get there. We are all amazed to find that the Tao mansion is enormous.

"This is where Ren lives?" Yoh goggles at it.

"It´s huge" Ryu says.

"Yeah" I agree a bit overwhelmed "I mean, I imagined the Tao family was wealthy but this is much more than what I was expecting"

"This is really strange" Amidamaru comments seriously "The area around the castle seems completely deserted" He´s right, there´s no one here.

"That can´t be!" Bason exclaims "Tao En is always alert. He must know we are here!"

"Tao En? That´s his father, right? Shit!" I look at the other guys "This is not good, he must have a full army inside" I scratch my head in thought. "But there´s nothing we can do about it now. We have to go and look for Ren"

"That´s right" Yoh coincides "Lets get going". So in we go.

"Our main objective is to free master Ren and mistress Jun" Bason explains quickly "Both of them are locked up together in the dungeons. That´s where we must get"

"Jun is locked in too?" I ask rhetorically "Right, lets go"

But right then, five zombies appear to challenge us. They call themselves the Gokufusei. Horohoro and Ryu confront them straight away, leaving Yoh, Manta and me a free way to go for Ren.

We get to the dungeons without further complication. It takes us no time to find Ren and Jun´s cell. We free them hurriedly. Jun looks a bit tired and feeble, but otherwise okay. On the other hand, Ren doesn't look okay at all.

He´s wearing the combat clothes I gave him for his birthday, or rather what they used to be combat clothes. The sweat pants are completely torn and the upper part is just missing. But that´s the least of my concerns. He has several scars and wounds all over his body, and he looks exhausted. This hurts me just too much, I´m speechless.

Yoh finally speaks up worriedly "Hey Ren, are you ok?"

"Of course I´m fine" Ren responds proudly "Who do you think you are talking to?"

I can´t help but smile. That answer is so _him_. But I really need to ask "Are you sure?"

His gaze falls upon me and I feel like he sees right through me with those golden eyes "Yes, I´ll be fine. This is nothing" He assures me with a low voice.

"Ok, we should get going then" Yoh says.

"I´m not going anywhere" Ren says abruptly "I came here for a reason. I´m not going anywhere until I defeat my father" He has a look of determination on his face.

"No!" Jun and I shout instantly.

"No, Ren" Yoh looks at him preoccupied "Look at yourself! Can´t you see you´re all beaten up?!"

"He´s right, Ren!" I insist "You should get your strength back and then we can come back later"

"No. I have to finish with this today, it´s necessary" He says vehemently "Besides, I can´t live with such a humiliating defeat. Thank you for freeing me. I´ll go now" He turns to leave.

And we all know there´s no point in trying to talk him out of it, he´s too headstrong. But that´s one of the reasons I like him so much. "Ok, Ren" I smile resignedly "I´m with you"


	21. Chapter 21: showtime

**Loads of fight in this chapter! Yay!  
**

**Chapter 21: Showtime **

REN´S POV

So here we are, Mariana, Yoh and me, heading for battle. We climb the stairs to the main entrance hurriedly. What we find there is not a nice sight. The blue haired guy, Horohoro I think his name was, and some other bloke are having their asses kicked by a zombie.

"Ok, then" I smirk "it´s Showtime"

I advance quickly towards the zombie with my Kwan Dao in hand and already oversouled, but it manages to block my attack. His leg comes out of nowhere, colliding with my stomach and knocking me down.

Getting up, I watch Yoh trying a lateral attack but the result is the same. He ends up hurled against the wall. How can a simple zombie have such strength?

"Come on, Celandine" Mariana is next. She jumps high and strikes from air with her left boomerang, which the zombie blocks with no problem. But suddenly, as she´s descending to the floor, she finds an open space in it´s defence and hits its shoulder.

"Well done Mariana!" I shout impressed. She throws a quick grin to my way but instantly turning her concentration back to the zombie.

The damn thing just stumbles a little from the crash, but recovers instantly. What´s up with this fucking zombie?! Not only does it have more power than a regular zombie, but I also have the impression that I have seen this expert fighting form before. "Be careful" I advice them all "This is no normal zombie"

"Of course it´s not!" Someone shouts from behind me.

I look back and am surprised to find Manta here as well. He´s looking worried. "Don't you find his techniques familiar?" He asks "They are very similar to Bailong´s. That must be the corpse of Shamon, his master!"

Manta´s right, it´s the same fighting style.

"In that case, Bailong should be the one to confront him" My sister enters through the door, Bailong walking by her side. "Go get him, Bailong!"

They defeat Shamon in no time, it´s quite impressive. Fortunately, the two idiots on the floor that were overpowered are ok and manage to stand up.

"Wow!" Mariana whispers to me excitedly "Your sister is so cool!"

"Tell me about it" I smirk "I´ve never seen her fight like that"

We proceed into the next room, where I know En Tao is waiting for us. "You sure you want to do this?" I blurt out.

Mariana gazes at me puzzled "What?"

"This is my battle" I say seriously "I don't want you to get hurt. It would be better if you didn't get involved in this" I don't know why but I actually mean this words. I can´t bear the thought of this girl getting hurt.

"No way" Mariana states in a low voice, so the others wont hear "I´m not going anywhere, Ren. You are my best friend, I have to be here next to you. There´s nowhere else I would rather be" She looks deep in my eyes with sincerity.

A strange feeling comes over me at her words, an overwhelming feeling that is very unfamiliar to me. But I can´t analyze it right now. We are getting there.

The place is very quiet. "Everyone be careful" I say, exploring my surroundings with alert eyes "En Tao is in this very room and he´s very powerful"

And there he is, sitting on his chair as usual "I welcome you all to he Tao manor" He leers "I know you have been taking good care of my son, but that has no relevance to me" He´s such a bastard.

"Oh my god!" Mariana exclaims "Ren, is that your father?!"

"Yes" I respond calmly "That is Tao En"

"He is huge!" Horohoro yells.

"Is he even human?!" The Elvis-haired guy sounds panicked.

I smirk, feeling a weird tranquillity coming over me "Of course he is" I answer confidently "There´s just a little secret behind this…….and I´ll find it out"

I run to En to make my first attack. Just as I expected, he blocks it easily and throws me across the room. I land hard against the floor.

"Ren!" I hear Mariana scream. She comes to where I am hastily, she seems very preoccupied "Are you ok?" Behind her, I can see Yoh and the others making their first assault.

"Of course I am" I get up slowly "Don´t worry about me. Focus on the fight"

She nods reassured, then turns to make an attack of her own. She aims at the head with both of her weapons but never gets there. En hits her, waving her off easily. She ends up tossed against the wall.

"Mariana!" I yell anxiously. Shit! This is not good.

"I´m ok" She coughs a little, but otherwise seems alright, thank god.

Turning around, I glare hard at En Tao "I will win this fight no matter what!"

**SKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSK**

**Bad news, college exams are nearing so I dont know how often I will be able to update, but I promise I´ll try my best.**


	22. Chapter 22: realization

**Sorry for the late update. Actually I had this chapter ready on friday but my computer wasnt working right and I couldnt update any chapters**

**But finally here it is!**

**Chapter 22: Realization**

MARIANA´S POV

And there he goes. In the slightly woozy state in which I was left after the strike I received, I can see Ren attacking his father. But it´s no use, En Tao is very powerful, just as I suspected he would be.

The others are having even less luck than Ren, they are easily thrown away. This is getting scary.

"I-is En-n Tao…" Manta stammers terrified "…immortal?!"

"There is no such thing as immortals!" Ren declares self-assuredly "Trust me, I will show you just that when I defeat him" And there´s the classical Ren-Smirk, confident as always, the one that just makes me believe blindly in his words.

"Is that so?" The head of the Tao clan speaks dangerously "You are being weak, Ren! Trusting others and confronting your own father, it is obvious that you have lost your way!"

"Quit talking and fight!" Ren yells, still smirking. He advances to strike once again.

"I am so sad for this situation" The older Tao dodges the attack easily "It will take some severe punishment to get you back to the right path, to my path"

"Well, it happens that I have no intentions to follow your path!" Ren tries another assault, this time from behind and manages to cut En´s arm off.

"If you do not take my words" To my utter horror, the arm moves with a life of it´s own and goes for Ren while he´s landing on the floor "Then you must die, Ren!!"

Giving the situation no second thought, I get hastily to my feet and go to aid Ren. I can´t make it there fast enough but fortunately Yoh does, and for that, En sends him flying across the room.

I try to strike him from below, but he manages to block and I´m once again thrown to the wall, next to Yoh.

"You are still weak, Ren" En states with derision "Both in body and spirit"

Ren is the only one standing now. Ryu, Horohoro, Yoh and me are all in the floor, completely defeated. Ren looks at us and seems to be a bit in shock. I smile a little to encourage him, but he looks even worse after seeing me.

"I admit" He says very quietly with his head bent low "That I am still weak"

My heart starts pounding fast at hearing his words. Please, don't give up, Ren! I just know he can do this, he´s not weak, he´s the strongest person I know!

"But" He starts again suddenly "that´s what drives me to want to defeat you"

Yes!!! The Ren-Smirk is in place again!!!! This fight is a piece of cake now! I get up fastly "The guy has spoken" I cry cheerfully "Kick his ass, Ren!"

My heart skips a beat as he gives me a thumb up. This is just too good, man!

"This is ridiculous! You cannot defeat me!" En Tao seems pretty mad now.

"En, even you are doubting now" Ren tells him assertively "The moment in which you loose your path, that´s when I´ll win" And he strikes again.

As for me, I am just mesmerized by his sure movements and smart techniques. His whole way of fighting is perfect right now. He moves smoothly and with certainty at the same time.

"Preposterous!" En yells, frantically trying to hit Ren "You have no idea what you are talking about!"

"Oh but I do" Ren comments conversationally, a strange calmness seems to have taken possession of him "When humans are confused they can´t support for sure their ideals. That´s exactly what you are, a human"

With that said, he takes away his oversoul. What is he trying to do?! I am just totally stunned by his sudden confidence. Even though I have no idea what he´s up to, I can´t help but feel assured by the way he´s acting. I just _know_ he will win, he´s really great.

"Don´t you think you are being a bit too arrogant?!" En Tao gives Ren a direct hit, but to everyone´s surprise, except to Ren´s apparently, it has no effect.

"…….An oversoul" I whisper in wonder.

"Exactly" Ren nods "Now that his furyoku is not enough and his overoul is weakened, if you focus, you can see his true form"

We all turn to look. It is a real shock, En Tao looks just like a normal person.

"Th-that man is our father?!" Jun looks at his father in disbelief.

"Yes" Ren speaks quietly again "This is the first time we are seeing the true form of En. For all this years he has been using that oversoul" He explains to us.

"Very good" En smiles sinisterly "You have discovered the truth. Regrettably, this isn't over yet" He stands pompously once again. "Oversoul Daidouryu!!"

He does a very strange and powerful looking oversoul, which looks like a dragon with his head on it. How freaky is that??!!! He goes for Ren instantly.

But Ren never falters and takes it all proudly. "I will say this just once, En" He gets in a fighting stance "I don't follow anyone but myself. However, I would rather risk being betrayed than staying alone" He raises his Kwan Dao high "This is my path. I want to make my own decisions"

En makes his attack but Ren blocks it and overcomes him almost effortlessly. And at that moment, to my eyes he is perfect. He is magnificent. He owns the entire room. The tattoo on his back appears to be radiating to complete the whole image. I am sure that this is all in my head, so this must mean something. Something of immense importance.

"I have not lost my path" And he heads for the final hit, the victorious one.

When he conquers, at this moment, on this night, in his very own house, is when I come to the realization. There is no more denial or playing oblivious to myself. The truth is right in front of me. The object of my attraction has just won the most important battle he has had in his life and I am very very happy for him.

**SKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSK**

**I would love to hear opinions**


	23. Chapter 23: dream

**This is the last chapter of To Change a Life. I made it extra long :) **

**Chapter 23: Dream**

Ren´s POV

"What on earth are you doing here?! It´s 2 am!" I growl thoroughly annoyed. Mariana has appeared in my house without even calling to ask if she could, not that she ever does but at least it was always in normal hours!

"Nothing. Me and the guys´ve just arrived from China and I wanted to talk to you" She says soothingly "What are you doing out this late, anyway?"

"None of your business!" I hiss irritably. I can´t help but notice she´s trembling a lot from the cold and sigh defeatedly "Get your ass inside before you freeze" I snap.

She grins and hurries in. We go to the living room and make ourselves comfortable in the sofa. Now that I see her properly I notice she´s wearing what looks like two long sleeved shirts, two sweaters, a hoodie and a coat.

"It´s not _that_ cold, you know?" I say with apathy.

"Oh, don't mind me, I´m cold all winter no matter how many coats I have on me" She laughs carelessly "And I just _hate_ being cold. If only I could live in a country where it´s summer all year I would be so ha-"

"Ok that´s enough, you are chatting too much" I interrupt "You said you wanted to talk to me about something. Talk or leave"

"Erm…well…er…" She seems undecided on what to say "I…erm…didn't say that I wanted to talk about something. I just want to talk with _you_…….about anything"

"You are annoying me at this hour of the night for something as unimportant as _wanting to talk_?!" I growl menacingly "Go to sleep"

"No, come on, don't be like that" Evidently my menacing voice has lost all effect on her. Damn it! "It´s not as though you were sleeping. Lets go out, get really tired and then we´ll be able to sleep tranquilly" She suggests.

"I have an even better idea" I respond unpleasantly "Lets finish this conversation, you get the hell out of here and leave me in peace once more"

"No, I don't vote for that idea. Too boring and you are the only one benefited" She looks like she´s trying hard not to laugh out loud "Come on! It´s an incredible night! Not one cloud on the sky!"

"Why me?" I complain, sighing heavily "Don't you know any other people to go and bother?"

"Yeah, but no one is as fun to bother as you are" She sniggers.

"Fuck you!" I scowl.

"And fuck you too" She laughs even more "We are going, it´s settled"

She grabs me by my hands and pulls me off the sofa. Spotting my brown coat lying on a chair, she takes it and drags me out of the house.

"Oh, that´s great, now you are stealing my coats?" I protest.

"That one is for you, silly" She leads the way, still half dragging me because I really don't want to go.

"Don't call me silly. Where are we going?" I am almost sure but I have to ask anyway.

"To Charlie´s, obviously"

"Again? Are you an alcoholic?"

"No, I just like to have fun" She chuckles "I wont take that as an insult, knowing how unfamiliar you are with that concept" Now I can tell she´s only half joking.

"You are laughing and joking too much this night. I don't like it" My scowl keeps deepening.

"And you are complaining too much. Relax and try to enjoy the moment for once" She says softly and I cannot think of what to answer.

We finally get to the wretched place. Being wednesday, a week day, there´s hardly anyone around, thank god. We sit in a table next to the window and Mariana orders two cokes and some french fries.

"What? No alcohol today?" I smirk.

"Not _yet_" She smirks back.

"So what is with you today that you just wanted to talk to me? What´s that about?" I inquire, still a bit upset that she made me go out.

"Nothing, I felt like talking to you" She answers simply "You know, talk to my _friend_" She emphasizes the word meaningfully.

"Oh………. right" It´s the only thing I can answer. Why does that always happen to me with her?

The waitress comes back with the french fries and the cokes, light one for her, common one for me. We drink and eat in silence for a while. I can feel an enormous weariness in me because I haven't rested yet from the fight back in China, but I also feel very alert. I don't know what it means.

"Are you ok?" Mariana asks suddenly. I look up to find her observing me closely. "You don't look good. Why weren't you sleeping?"

I sigh "I don't know, I just couldn't"

"That´s bad, Ren" She frowns worriedly "Maybe you should take some pills or something"

"Don't make a big deal out of it, ok?" I respond getting once again irritated "I am fine. When I´m really tired I´m sure I´ll fall asleep"

"Don't get angry, I´m just concerned" She says softly "But you should be exhausted after everything you did at your parents' mansion"

"I am not angry" I snap "But drop it or I will be"

"Ok, sorry" She murmurs. A silence settles as we finish the fries our drinks, fries already gone. Now, Mariana _does_ ask for Tequila.

"Just Tequila? No lemon? Salt?" I sneer.

"No" She states determinedly "Tonight we are getting drunk"

"Speak for yourself, I am not interested in becoming an alcoholic"

"You don't become an alcoholic for getting drunk once, Ren" She smiles.

"I don't care" I glower "I am not getting drunk"

"Right" She doesn't seem to take my words seriously. Damn her!

When the waitress brings the Tequila, Mariana pays it instantly and tells her we are taking it elsewhere. "We are?" I ask her.

"Yeah, I want a quieter place to talk" So she leads the way outside and to wherever she feels like going. Predictably, we end up once more in the river.

"What´s with you and this river?" I sneer seating on the spot we always do.

"Just the view" She murmurs seating next to me "It´s beautiful"

"It´s not bad" I agree leaning back and look at the sky. She was right, it is an incredible night. The moon is so bright that I just stare at it enthralled.

We stay like that in silence for a while until I feel Mariana trembling again. "Take my coat" I sigh rolling my eyes "You really have no resistance to low degrees" She laughs and takes the coat.

"Sure you want to stay here?"

"Yes!" She answers quickly "I can take it"

"You are suffering the cold just to annoy me and prevent me from returning home?" I demand.

"Perhaps" She snickers.

Offended, I return to the star gazing. A blissful minute of silence passes before she turns to me once more and looks at me. And then looks significantly at the Tequila.

"Ok, you are not backing out now. Lets have this baby" She opens it and takes a swig "Wow! It´s great!" And she passes me the bottle "A mouthful to celebrate the nearing Tournament!"

She looks so cheerful and is grinning so happily that it is very hard to say no. A small taste can´t hurt, right? I incorporate so I am sitting, take the bottle and take a diminutive drink. Wow!!! She was right, it is far stronger that way. I actually have to sit down.

"How can you drink _that_?" I complain "That´s it! A mouthful! I am done with that devil's stuff!"

She laughs out loud "Oh my god, Ren! You have as little resistance with alcohol as I have with cold. That doesn't even count as a mouthful, you hardly tasted it at all!"

"I don't care. It´s all the taste I need to know for sure I don't ever want to have it again in my life" I sulk.

"Oh, come on, don't exaggerate, it´s not _that_ strong" She pauses and smiles an evil smile that makes me very suspicious "Care to make it interesting?"

I raise an eyebrow "What do you mean?"

"Lets play a game" She rapidly comes even closer to me "We ask each other any kind of questions we can think of and we the other has to answer the absolute truth, of course. If the questioned decides to keep the answer private they must take a swig!"

"That´s so stupid, I don't see the fun in that" I protest.

"Do you _ever_ see the fun in anything?" She says a bit sarcastically. That´s a new one, I didn´t know that she could be sarcastic "Or do you have that many secrets you don't want to share? Are you afraid of this little game?"

"Shut up!" I scowl "I´m not afraid of anything. Bring it on"

"Yes!" She yells in triumph "You go first!"

"Me? First? Erm…" I can´t think of anything, this is stupid "I can ask absolutely anything?"

She nods eagerly. Mmm… this is difficult. But finally I come up with something "Why did you come tonight to my place of all places when you knew it would bother me? I mean, you could have gone to Yoh and you know he wouldn't have minded, the idiot"

She stares at me for about a minute, then grins and takes the bottle. "No way! That´s such a dumb question!" I gape at her as she drinks "You are just not answering to bother me and because you actually want to drink!"

"You are getting to know me, all right, Renny" She smirks.

"Don´t call me that!" I snarl.

"Ok, sorry" She puts the bottle and waves her eyebrows suggestively "My turn"

"Shoot" I say indifferently.

"Have you ever kissed anyone?" She smiles widely and looks at me in interest.

For god´s sake this is so stupid! Why on earth did I agree to something as dumb as this?! "No" I deadpan.

"Mmph. Ok, that´s cool" Strangely enough, she seems satisfied with the answer "Ask away"

"Do you have any siblings or have you ever had them?" I question dully.

"No" She chuckles "You could have asked me that without playing this game. Ask interesting questions!"

"Like what? This is dumb!" I protest.

"You are no fun, Ren" She doesn't seem to mind though "Erm…… let me think ……. Oh, I know. Who is your favourite person in the world?"

"What?" I stare at her in disbelief "My favourite person? What´s the point with that stupid question? Are you sure this game is not for the mentally retarded people?"

"Pretty much" She chuckles and then mockingly glares at me "Don't be a coward and answer the question!"

"Shut it!" My favourite person? I´ve never thought about that "I don't know. Or rather I don't have a favourite person"

"Bullshit! Everyone has favourites, you just don't want to admit it"

Well, if I really have to choose……...Jun is probably the only option, anyway. I guess she is my favourite. Ugh! That sounds so corny!

Mariana is looking at me expectantly. She looks as though she seriously wants to know, so just to annoy her as much as she´s annoyed me tonight and prevent myself for sounding anywhere near corny, I take the bottle. A smirk plays on my lips as I see her eyes widening.

"No way! You are drinking over such a stupid and easy question?" She looks a bit disappointed. Serves her well, bringing me here at these hours of the night. I take a quick draught and even though it´s small, it makes my head spin. I shudder at the sensation and notice my eyes are having trouble focusing. "I never took you for a coward, Tao" I hear Mariana go on.

"You are just pissed off because you wanted to know the answer badly" I smile wickedly "All the more reason to stay quiet"

"Fuck you" She says grinning "You ask"

"Mmm……..How did you meet with Celandine?" My voice is getting monotonous already.

"You really don't get the point of the game, Ren" She comments with a smile "You are supposed to make the other confess things, not ask things I can answer you every day"

"I don't care. Answer"

"Ok" She sighs "It was this cold and cloudy day when I was visiting my parents´s cementery. I saw her close to their graves. Turquoise short hair, taller than me, very, very thin and about 23 years old. I completely freaked out because I still didn't know about shamans and all that stuff, so seeing a ghost was quite a scare. Anyway, she was crying so, even though I was afraid, I went and talk to her. She had died a week ago from cancer and was terribly depressed about it. She still wasn't ready to leave the world. I consoled her in any way I could and tried to cheer her up. We became instant friends. I already told you she was the one to tell me all about the shamans, right?" I nod "And eventually she offered herself to be my spirit guardian and that´s pretty much it" She finishes.

"Good story" I comment curtly "Your turn"

"Yeah" She pauses to think what to ask "Oh, I have an excellent question! Why do you want to become the Shaman King? You must have a good reason if you want it so badly"

I gaze at her uncertainly. Yes, I do have a very good reason, but it´s kind of private. I don't know if I want to share that now. But then again, as she reminded me today, we are friends. She should know.

"Yes, I do have a motive" I pause thinking "When I become the Shaman King I am planning to work hard to heal this hatred scarred world. I want to get rid of all the hate that contaminates it" I look up at the sky for a moment "That is my dream"

For a couple of minutes Mariana doesn't say anything. I can feel her staring at me so I glance at her and see a look in her face I´ve never seen before. She looks overwhelmed but in a strange way and is staring at me in awe. All of a sudden, I start feeling very hot and look away from her.

"Ren" She whispers "That´s an amazing dream" Her eyes are glowing as she keeps on looking intently at me.

Ok, this is turning a little uncomfortable "Hey, it´s my turn now" I immediately change the subject "What is it that you are hopelessly dreaming with your delusions of becoming the Shaman King, or rather Queen, when it´s obvious I´m going to win?" I smirk slightly.

She snaps out of the weird trance she was in and grins at me "Yeah, right. You wish" She laughs, once again careless "I have a great dream. I want to become the best singer and musician in the world. I believe that with music we can free ourselves from all sadness and hopelessness. That is what I want to do. With my music, I´ll relieve everyone from all grief and misery. How does that sound to you?"

"With music?" I enquire sceptically "Good luck with that, it sounds a bit too naïve, too idealistic"

"Oh, and yours doesn't?" She responds smartly "What is the point in having a dream if it is easy to achieve? I plan on working hard too, you know" She sounds a tad offended by my comment.

"Right" Again I have to change the subject "You ask"

"Yes. I have a good one" She pauses uncertainly "W-what….er….did you want to do as a Shaman King ….you know….before?"

At that question, I am mute for a very long time. How can she ask _that_?! I just want to forget it so badly and here she comes and asks me about it!!!

I glare hardly at her and reach for the bottle once more. This swallow hits me even harder and I start seeing double. "You want to play that game, huh?" I say angrily, unable to focus my sight "Then, what was the triggering event that made you escape the….what was the name….the Suzuki, right? Tell me about that"

(AN: Those are the mean people, Mariana´s relatives, that she stayed with in Japan a couple of years previous this one. If you don't remember, reread chapter 14).

This actually makes her glare back and she drinks as well "Why don't you tell me about the torture you received in your family when we went to rescue you? I remember you were in a terrible shape"

I give her the finger and take yet another swig. This one makes me sway slightly "Why were you involved in a crime that took you to the reformatory?" I snap.

(AN: Read chap 14 if it doesnt make sense)

She gulps down again, gets up and throws herself at me, pushing me back. She grabs me by my yellow jacket and yells "AND WHY ARE YOU SUCH A PRICK??!!!"

With all the strength I can manage in my inebriated state, I push her off of me "Oh that's really original!" I snarl "You were the one who wanted to play this stupid game in the first place!!"

She stands up "It would have been fun if you hadn't been a complete asshole!"

"You were the one who started bringing up the unpleasant subjects!" I get up as well.

"AND YOU-!!!" She suddenly grabs her hair and pulls "ARGH!! Why are we doing this?! I don't want to fight you. This is horrible"

She is right, it is horrible "I don't want to fight either" I say quietly.

"Lets calm down" She walks over the edge, just before the river starts. I walk over next to her. "I am sorry" She whispers "I didn't mean to do you any bad when I asked about your past reasons. I just wanted to know, cause I want to know more about you. I didn't want you to get negative feelings"

"I know" I sigh heavily "I overreacted. I shouldn't have asked those things. I did it out of spite"

"I know" She looks at me and smiles "We are a nice pair of idiots, are we not?"

"Speak for yourself" I smirk. A strangely nice sensation comes over me. "I am very smart"

"Yes and very modest too" She laughs and swings pathetically "God I am so drunk!"

"Yeah, we are two" I am swinging a little myself.

"HA! There goes your resolution to stay sober" She points at me drunkenly.

"All your fault" I say in mocking resentment.

"OH MY GOD THE WORLD WILL FALL APART!! HE MADE A JOKE!" She bellows and cracks up laughing.

"Shut up" I have a hard time preventing a smile "Shall we go back now?"

"Yeah, but before that I must do something of great importance" She declares dramatically.

"What?" She is annoying me yet again. What a surprise.

She sways totally inebriated "If you want to know _that_ badly it is………………..THIS!"

The devilish woman pushes me to the river!!! The nerve in her!! Normally, I would manage to keep balance and prevent the fall, but I am so drunk that I loose the equilibrium and fall down with a splash.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING YOU – YOU – YOU DAUGHTER OF SATAN!!!" I roar getting out of the river with difficulty because I am completely soaked.

She´s laughing so hard she falls down to the floor and rolls around. I go for her, grab her by the arms, pull her up and get my coat off her.

"NOOO!!!" She screams still laughing and tries to get away from my grip to no avail. My graspis too strong for her and I throw her easily to the river as well.

"Fuck!" She curses loudly "It´s freezing!" She gets out shivering.

"I know" I sneer "Serves you right for pushing me in first"

"Well, it was worth it" She sniggers, still shaking badly.

"Here, you, evil girl" I hand her my coat "Enough for today. Lets go home"

"Ok" She beams.

And side to side, at 6 am, totally drenched, we walk back home exhausted. Now I´m really going to sleep.

**SKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSKSK**

**I so loved this chapter! Of course there´s going to be a sequel, but I cant write it now because I´m still busy with exams. But** **I promise I´ll do my best to try and post asap.  
**

**Please tell me your thoughts on the story. Bye!**


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